Cancer Coverage in General-Audience and Black Newspapers

This article presents findings from the first study of cancer news coverage in a national sample of Black and general-audience newspapers. We compared 2,439 health news stories from 23 weekly Black newspapers to 2,767 health news stories from a constructed week sample of 12 daily general-audience newspapers, both collected between April 1, 2004, and March 31, 2005. Analyses examined differences in the amount and nature of cancer coverage, specifically cancer sites, disparities, localization, and personally mobilizing health information for readers. Cancer was the main topic in a higher proportion of health stories in Black newspapers than in general-audience newspapers (13.6% vs. 9.6%; p = .001). Among cancer stories, those in Black newspapers had more localization (p = .004), disparity information (p = .001), and personal mobilization information (p = .001) than those in general-audience newspapers. In neither type of newspaper did the distribution of stories by cancer site accurately reflect the impact of different cancers on population mortality.

[1]  L. Verbrugge,et al.  Death makes news: the social impact of disease on newspaper coverage. , 2000, Journal of health and social behavior.

[2]  Daniela B Friedman,et al.  Disparities in the coverage of cancer information in ethnic minority and mainstream mass print media. , 2005, Ethnicity & disease.

[3]  H. Meissner,et al.  How sources of health information relate to knowledge and use of cancer screening exams , 1992, Journal of community health.

[4]  Peter Salovey,et al.  Motivating Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Behaviors using Psychologically Tailored Messages , 2005, Journal of health communication.

[5]  Thomas E. Nelson,et al.  Issue Frames and Group-Centrism in American Public Opinion , 1996, The Journal of Politics.

[6]  James E. Grunig.  Research Methods in Mass Communication, Guido H. Stempel, Bruce H. Westley (Eds.). Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. (1981) , 1982 .

[7]  V. Freimuth,et al.  A Content Analytic Study of Daily Newspaper Coverage of Cancer , 1979 .

[8]  David P. Fan,et al.  Predictions of Public Opinion from the Mass Media: Computer Content Analysis and Mathematical Modeling , 1988 .

[9]  Thomas E. Nelson,et al.  Issue Framing Effects on Belief Importance and Opinion , 1999, The Journal of Politics.

[10]  Ricardo J. Wray,et al.  Validation of Database Search Terms for Content Analysis: The Case of Cancer News Coverage , 2006 .

[11]  M. Brodie,et al.  Perceptions of Latinos, African Americans, and Whites on Media as a Health Information Source , 1999 .

[12]  A. S. Pride,et al.  A history of the black press , 1987 .

[13]  K. Emmons,et al.  A content analysis of news coverage of skin cancer prevention and detection, 1979 to 2003. , 2005, Archives of dermatology.

[14]  Matthew W. Kreuter,et al.  Integrating Culture Into Health Information for African American Women , 2006 .

[15]  O. Gandy,et al.  Race and Risk: Factors Affecting the Framing of Stories about Inequality, Discrimination, and Just Plain Bad Luck , 1997 .

[16]  Bryan E. Denham,et al.  Effects of Mass and Interpersonal Communication on Breast Cancer Screening: Advancing Agenda-Setting Theory in Health Contexts , 2006 .

[17]  M. Saraiya,et al.  A content analysis of news coverage of the HPV vaccine by U.S. newspapers, January 2002-June 2005. , 2006, Journal of women's health.

[18]  Robert L. Jones,et al.  Some Procedures for Estimating “News Hole” in Content Analysis , 1959 .

[19]  Pamela Oliver,et al.  Political Processes and Local Newspaper Coverage of Protest Events: From Selection Bias to Triadic Interactions1 , 2000, American Journal of Sociology.

[20]  Cynthia L. Blitz,et al.  Effect of media coverage and physician advice on utilization of breast cancer screening by women 40 years and older. , 2000, Journal of health communication.

[21]  T. Wright,et al.  News media coverage of human papillomavirus , 2004, Cancer.

[22]  D. Domke.  The Black Press in the "Nadir" of African Americans , 1994 .

[23]  Linda Shields,et al.  Content Analysis , 2015 .

[24]  L. Wallack,et al.  More Than a Message: Framing Public Health Advocacy to Change Corporate Practices , 2005, Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education.

[25]  J. Hornaday,et al.  Cancer Facts & Figures 2004 , 2004 .

[26]  L. Wallack,et al.  Media Advocacy: A Strategy for Advancing Policy and Promoting Health , 1996, Health education quarterly.

[27]  J. Clarke,et al.  Cancer, Heart Disease, and AIDS: What Do The Media Tell Us About These Diseases? , 1992 .

[28]  J. Clarke.  Prostate cancer's hegemonic masculinity in select print mass media depictions (1974-1995). , 1999, Health communication.

[29]  R. Convissor,et al.  Using national news events to stimulate local awareness of public policy issues. , 1990, Public health reports.

[30]  L. Hoffman‐Goetz,et al.  Cancer Coverage in Newspapers Serving Large and Small Communities in Ontario , 2001 .

[31]  D. Mckie,et al.  Talking Politics , 1975, The Lancet.

[32]  R. E. Wolseley.  The Black press, U.S.A , 1971 .

[33]  I. Yanovitzky,et al.  Media Attention, Institutional Response, and Health Behavior Change , 1999 .

[34]  M. Slater,et al.  Obtaining Nationally Representative Samples of Local News Media Outlets , 2005 .

[35]  P. Washburn.  The Black Press: Homefront Clout Hits A Peak in World War II , 1995 .

[36]  L. Hoffman‐Goetz.  Cancer experiences of African‐American women as portrayed in popular mass magazines , 1999, Psycho-oncology.

[37]  Stephen Lacy,et al.  The Effectiveness of Random, Consecutive Day and Constructed Week Sampling in Newspaper Content Analysis , 1993 .

[38]  V. Strecher,et al.  One size does not fit all: The case for tailoring print materials , 1999, Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

[39]  J. Finnegan,et al.  Media Coverage of AIDS, Cancer, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases: A Test of the Public Arenas Model , 1994 .

[40]  SAMPLE EFFICIENCY IN QUANTITATIVE NEWSPAPER CONTENT ANALYSIS , 1951 .

[41]  Klaus Krippendorff,et al.  Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology , 1980 .

[42]  M. Mori,et al.  Medicine, Media, and Celebrities: News Coverage of Breast Cancer, 1960–1995 , 1999 .

[43]  Directing Health Messages toward African Americans: Attitudes toward Health Care and the Mass Media , 1998 .

[44]  J. Finnegan,et al.  Content Analysis of Coverage of Alcohol Control Policy Issues in Black-Oriented and Mainstream Newspapers in the U.S. , 1997, Journal of public health policy.

[45]  W. Gamson,et al.  Media Discourse and Public Opinion on Nuclear Power: A Constructionist Approach , 1989, American Journal of Sociology.

[46]  Studying the news on public health: how content analysis supports media advocacy. , 2003, American journal of health behavior.

[47]  Dietram A. Scheufele,et al.  Framing as a theory of media effects , 1999 .

[48]  K. Krippendorff.  Krippendorff, Klaus, Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology . Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1980. , 1980 .

[49]  Robert M. Entman,et al.  Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm , 1993 .

[50]  V. Freimuth,et al.  Covering Cancer: Newspapers and the Public Interest , 1984 .

[51]  W. Lance Bennett,et al.  Constructing publics and their opinions , 1993 .

[52]  H. Hoeken,et al.  Communication Concepts 6: Agenda-setting , 1998 .