Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health and McGraw/Patterson Center for Population Sciences, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Health Educ Res. 2013 Apr;28(2):339-51. doi: 10.1093/her/cys086. Epub 2012 Aug 20.
The news media play a vital role in disseminating health information, yet little is known about the social characteristics of health journalists or the impact they have on the newsmaking process. This study examines how the social group influences of US health journalists impact two important aspects of news production--'media agenda-setting' and 'framing'. Using data from a national survey of health and medical science journalists, the authors conducted multivariable logistic regression analyses to study the links between the gender, age and race/ethnicity of respondents, and the ways in which they utilized news sources, other resources, news priorities and story angles. Female respondents were more likely than males to say that educating people to make informed decisions and disseminating new, accurate information are important priorities. Female and minority journalists were more likely than white males to use a variety of sources, and to say it is important to develop the health and scientific literacy of audiences and influence public health behaviors. The gender and race/ethnicity of journalists play an important role in the production of health news. Health educators can foster improved coverage by learning more about the life experiences of health journalists and developing better working relationships with them.
新闻媒体在传播健康信息方面发挥着至关重要的作用，但对于健康记者的社会特征以及他们对新闻制作过程的影响，人们知之甚少。本研究考察了美国健康记者的社会群体影响如何影响新闻制作的两个重要方面——“媒体议程设置”和“框架”。研究人员利用一项针对健康和医学科学记者的全国性调查数据，通过多变量逻辑回归分析来研究受访者的性别、年龄和种族/民族与其利用新闻来源、其他资源、新闻优先事项和报道角度之间的联系。女性受访者比男性更有可能表示，教育人们做出明智的决策和传播新的、准确的信息是重要的优先事项。女性和少数族裔记者比白人男性更有可能使用多种来源，并表示培养受众的健康和科学素养以及影响公众健康行为很重要。记者的性别和种族/民族在健康新闻的制作中发挥着重要作用。健康教育者可以通过更多地了解健康记者的生活经历并与他们建立更好的工作关系，来促进更完善的报道。
