Coverage of Cancer in Local Television News

Overview

Journal J Cancer Educ

Publisher Springer

Specialties Medical Education
Oncology

Date 2009 Mar 5

PMID 19259868

Citations 8

Authors

Walter Gantz

Zheng Wang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: The news media provide significant health information to the American public. Although the public turns to and trusts local television news, news about cancer has not been systematically examined.

Methods: In this content analysis, we examined 40,112 news stories aired in the 3rd, 25th, 87 th, and 150th sized market in the country, all located in the Midwest.

Results: In total, 386 stories focused on cancer. News stories about cancer were short and occurred less than once for every 30 minutes of news. The amount of news coverage of specific cancer sites was not consistent with cancer incidence rates. Similarly, the demography of cancer patients featured in the news differed from that in real life. Few stories provided follow-up information. The average story required a 10th-grade education to be understood. Differences across markets were not systematically related to market size.

Conclusions: Cancer coverage was scattered and abbreviated. For both cancer practitioners as well as the general public, local television news cannot be counted on as a primary vehicle for cancer information.

Citing Articles

Investigation of the Readability and Reliability of Online Health Information for Cancer Patients During the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Schluter C, Fefer M, Lee G, Alty I, Dee E J Cancer Educ. 2022; 38(2):462-466.

PMID: 35469115 PMC: 9038169. DOI: 10.1007/s13187-022-02140-4.

Issues Relevant to Population Health in Political Advertising in the United States, 2011-2012 and 2015-2016.

Fowler E, Baum L, Jesch E, Haddad D, Reyes C, Gollust S Milbank Q. 2019; 97(4):1062-1107.

PMID: 31650628 PMC: 6904264. DOI: 10.1111/1468-0009.12427.

Associations Between Objective Television Exposure and Cancer Perceptions in a National Sample of Adults.

Allen C, McBride C, Haardorfer R, Roberts M Cancer Control. 2019; 26(1):1073274819846603.

PMID: 31131620 PMC: 6537258. DOI: 10.1177/1073274819846603.

Genre-Specific Cultivation Effects: Lagged Associations between Overall TV Viewing, Local TV News Viewing, and Fatalistic Beliefs about Cancer Prevention.

Lee C, Niederdeppe J Communic Res. 2015; 38(6):731-753.

PMID: 25605981 PMC: 4297652. DOI: 10.1177/0093650210384990.

Comparing local TV news with national TV news in cancer coverage: an exploratory content analysis.

Lee C, Long M, Slater M, Song W J Health Commun. 2014; 19(12):1330-42.

PMID: 24750022 PMC: 4262676. DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2014.894598.

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