College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
J Health Commun. 2010 Oct;15(7):695-711. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2010.514028.
Newspapers are one of the most important sources of health information for the public in China, yet little is known about the coverage of health issues in Chinese newspapers. Using the theories of agenda setting and framing, we explored research questions such as what health-related topics were covered and how they were covered in Chinese newspapers. This study used a sample of two constructed weeks in 2007 of one national and five leading local newspapers of the five most populated cities in China: 558 health-related articles were identified. It was found that certain diseases and risk factors were underreported as compared with their actual morbidity and mortality rates in China. Most of the health reporting was framed in a non-negative frame. It was also found that causes and preventions of diseases were more likely to be attributed to the individual than to the society. As one of the first comprehensive content analyses on the coverage of health-related issues in China, this study provides health care professionals and policymakers a broad picture of health information available to the public in Chinese newspapers.
报纸是中国公众获取健康信息的最重要来源之一，但对于中文报纸对健康问题的报道却知之甚少。本研究运用议程设置和框架理论，探讨了中国报纸涵盖的健康相关主题以及报道方式等研究问题。该研究以中国五个人口最多城市的一家全国性报纸和五家主要地方性报纸在 2007 年构建的两周样本为基础，共确定了 558 篇健康相关文章。研究发现，与中国实际发病率和死亡率相比，某些疾病和风险因素的报道较少。大多数健康报道都采用了非负面框架。此外，还发现疾病的病因和预防更有可能归因于个人，而不是社会。作为对中国健康相关问题报道的首次全面内容分析之一，本研究为医疗保健专业人员和政策制定者提供了一幅中国报纸向公众提供健康信息的全景图。
