Gantz Walter, Wang Zheng
Department of Telecommunications, Institute for Communication Research, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-5501, USA.
J Cancer Educ. 2009;24(1):65-72. doi: 10.1080/08858190802664727.
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.
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.
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.
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.
新闻媒体向美国公众提供重要的健康信息。尽管公众会收看并信任当地的电视新闻，但有关癌症的新闻尚未得到系统的审视。
在这项内容分析中，我们审视了在该国第3、第25、第87和第150大市场播出的40112则新闻报道，这些市场均位于中西部地区。
总共有386则报道聚焦癌症。有关癌症的新闻报道篇幅简短，每30分钟新闻中出现不到一次。特定癌症部位的新闻报道数量与癌症发病率不一致。同样，新闻中呈现的癌症患者人口统计学特征与现实生活中的情况不同。很少有报道提供后续信息。平均一则报道需要十年级的教育水平才能理解。不同市场之间的差异与市场规模没有系统的关联。
癌症报道零散且简略。对于癌症从业者和普通公众而言，当地电视新闻都不能被视为获取癌症信息的主要渠道。
