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A note on news staff views of mental illness and its coverage
Author(s) -
Wahl Otto,
Axelson Gary
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(198501)13:1<80::aid-jcop2290130111>3.0.co;2-9
Subject(s) - mentally ill , mental illness , mental health , psychology , psychiatry , news media , social psychology , advertising , business
Abstract Questionnaires concerning community attitudes toward mental illness and opinions about news coverage of mental health topics were administered to 26 television news staff and 37 mental health workers. Results showed news personnel have positive attitudes toward the mentally ill and are aware of and concerned about negative stereotyping of mentally ill persons in news programs. The views of news staff were very similar to those of the mental health workers, suggesting substantial common ground for cooperative efforts to combat negative psychiatric stereotypes.