Open AccessMaking sense of cancer news coverage trends: a comparison of three comprehensive content analyses
Author(s) -
Jakob D. Jensen,
Cortney M. Moriarty,
Ryan J. Hurley,
Jo Ellen Stryker
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
comunicação e sociedade
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.145
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 2183-3575
pISSN - 1645-2089
DOI - 10.17231/comsoc.23(2012).1353
Subject(s) - breast cancer , pancreatic cancer , thyroid cancer , cancer , newspaper , medicine , incidence (geometry) , cancer incidence , demography , oncology , advertising , mathematics , geometry , sociology , business
Cancer stories (N = 5,327) in the top 50 U.S. newspapers were analyzed by a team of four coders and the results were compared with the earliest analyses of this type (from 1977 and 1980). Using cancer incidence rates as a comparison, three cancers were found to be consistently underreported (male Hodgkin’s, and thyroid) and four cancers were found to be consistently overreported (breast, blood/Leukemia, pancreatic, and bone/muscle). In addition, cancer news coverage consistently has focused on treatment rather than on other aspects of the cancer continuum (e.g., prevention), portrayed lifestyle choices (e.g., diet, smoking) as the most common cancer risk factor, and rarely reported incidence or mortality data. Finally, the data were compatible with the idea that personalization bias (e.g., celebrity profiles, event coverage) may explain some news coverage distortions.