2009-07-28-皮尤-Health_News_Coverage_in_the_U.S._Media,_Early_2009_14页_446kb

Summary of Health News Coverage in the U.S. Media (January - June 2009)

Core Content

This report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) examines the coverage of health news in the U.S. media from January to June 2009. It updates a previous analysis covering January 2007 through June 2008 and provides insights into how media attention to health issues evolved during the early months of the Obama administration.

Key Findings

• Overall Health Coverage Increased:
  Health news accounted for 4.9% of the total newshole in the first six months of 2009, representing a 36% increase compared to the earlier period (2007–2008). It ranked as the 8th most covered news topic, behind the economy, foreign affairs, business, politics, and crime, but ahead of domestic terrorism, race/gender issues, science/technology, environment, and education.

• Shift in Focus to Health Policy:
  Health policy and the U.S. health care system received the most attention, making up 40.2% of all health coverage. This is a significant shift from the earlier period, where specific diseases dominated coverage. Public health issues (e.g., swine flu, salmonella outbreaks) accounted for 35.7%, and specific diseases/conditions for 24.1%.

• Swine Flu Dominated Early Coverage:
  The swine flu outbreak was the second-biggest health news story, accounting for 30.2% of health coverage. It reached its peak in April, with 31.1% of the national newshole during the week of April 27–May 3. The story remained a major focus in May and early June.

• Cancer Received the Most Attention Among Specific Diseases:
  Cancer was the most covered specific disease, accounting for 5.9% of all health coverage in 2009. Mental health followed at 2.5%, and diabetes/obesity at 1.9%. In the earlier period (2007–2008), mental health ranked 6th, while cancer was the top disease.

• Media Sector Differences:
  Different media sectors focused on different aspects of health news:

  • Network Evening News provided the most coverage (7.7%), with a focus on specific diseases and conditions.
  • PBS NewsHour focused heavily on health policy, accounting for 58% of its health newshole.
  • Network Morning News concentrated on public health concerns, with 44.3% of its health coverage dedicated to this area.
  • Newspapers offered the most balanced coverage, with 21.8% of health stories leading the front page.
  • News Radio had the most balanced attention across the three health topic areas, with 35.5% on health policy, 34% on specific diseases, and 30.5% on public health.
  • Talk Radio was heavily focused on health policy (85.1% of health newshole), with Ed Schultz accounting for 75.1% of this coverage.
  • Cable TV devoted the least attention to health news (3.6%), but its focus shifted from public health to health policy in 2009.

• Monthly Trends:

  • April saw the highest monthly coverage of health issues at 7.4% of the newshole, driven by the swine flu outbreak.
  • June marked a significant shift as health care reform legislation became a major topic, with the health care debate story being the 4th biggest story in the nation and accounting for 5.7% of the national newshole.

Conclusion

The media's attention to health news increased substantially in the first half of 2009, driven by the Obama administration's emphasis on health care reform and the swine flu outbreak. The focus shifted from specific diseases to health policy and the U.S. health care system, with network evening news providing the most coverage. The report highlights the importance of media in shaping public understanding of health issues and the evolving nature of health news in the U.S. media landscape.

Methodology

• The study analyzed 1,568 health-related stories across 55 news outlets.
• Stories were coded based on their content and categorized into three main areas: health policy/the U.S. health care system, public health issues, and specific diseases or conditions.
• The analysis was conducted as part of PEJ's News Coverage Index (NCI), using a team of 17 trained coders, a coding administrator, and a senior research methodologist.
• Coverage was tracked across newspapers, online, network TV, cable TV, and radio.
• The methodology and full dataset are available at www.journalism.org.