Department of Behavioral Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health and Health Promotion and The Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
Gerontologist. 2012 Jun;52(3):367-82. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnr100. Epub 2011 Sep 9.
We examined messages that the websites of the top cable news companies (MSNBC, FOX, and CNN) conveyed about cognition between January 2007 and March 2010. Drawing on agenda-setting theory, this work assessed the frequency, prominence, and attributes of cognitive topics in messages targeting an aging audience.
We used quantitative content analysis to examine the frequency and prominence of cognitive topics and cognitive goals, as well as how the cognitive discussions were framed. Chi-square analyses were conducted to compare cognitive health information discussed in news items that did and did not target an "aging audience." Qualitative analysis of the aging audience subgroup was used to further examine age-associated cognitive messages.
Within the 229 cognitive items identified, we found significantly more coverage of cognitive functioning and unspecified dementia and significantly less coverage of cognitive disease not dementia, specified dementia, and accidents or injury for the aging audience. Our qualitative analysis of news items aimed at an aging audience documented a focus on maintaining functioning and avoiding decline through various individual lifestyle behaviors. However, contextual information about level of cognition to be maintained, particular cognitive functions targeted, specific norms about cognitive aging, and how cognitive function is determined was lacking.
Our research points to a communication gap in the delivery of academic research findings to a lay audience through online journalism. We suggest more clarity by researchers in defining cognitive concepts and measurement of cognitive function for journalistic translation and public consumption.
我们研究了 2007 年 1 月至 2010 年 3 月期间，顶级有线电视新闻公司（MSNBC、FOX 和 CNN）网站发布的有关认知的信息。本研究运用议程设置理论，评估了以老年观众为目标的信息中认知主题的频率、突出程度和属性。
我们使用定量内容分析来检验认知主题和认知目标的频率和突出程度，以及认知讨论的框架方式。卡方分析用于比较针对“老年观众”和不针对“老年观众”的新闻报道中讨论的认知健康信息。对老年观众亚组的定性分析用于进一步研究与年龄相关的认知信息。
在确定的 229 个认知项目中，我们发现针对老年观众的报道中，认知功能和未指定痴呆的报道明显更多，而认知疾病而非痴呆、特定痴呆和意外或损伤的报道明显较少。我们对针对老年观众的新闻报道的定性分析记录了通过各种个人生活方式行为来保持功能和避免衰退的重点。然而，关于要保持的认知水平、针对的特定认知功能、关于认知老化的具体规范以及如何确定认知功能的背景信息却缺乏。
我们的研究表明，通过在线新闻向非专业观众传达学术研究结果存在沟通差距。我们建议研究人员在为新闻报道和公众消费进行翻译时，更明确地定义认知概念和认知功能的测量。
