Schölin Lisa, Hashini Pramila, Kanapathy Rajaratnam, Schalkwyk May Ci van, Eddleston Michael, Konradsen Flemming, Weerasinghe Manjula
Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Faculty of Medicine, South Asian Clinical Toxicology Research Collaboration, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024 Jul 16;4(7):e0003497. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0003497. eCollection 2024.
Modern agriculture relies on pesticides to maximise outputs. While many highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) are banned in places like the European Union due to concerns about harm to the environment and human health, their use continues in many low- and middle-income counties (LMICs). Pesticide suicide is a public health problem unique to countries where HHPs are used, and Sri Lanka has successfully implemented several HHP bans as part of a suicide prevention strategy. On 27 April 2021, the Sri Lankan government announced an imminent import ban of all fertilizers and pesticides which was later revoked in November 2021. The aim of this article was to explore the media framing of the import ban as it pertained to pesticides. Guided by Entman's typology of frame functions, we analysed newspaper articles from nine Sri Lankan newspapers (N = 102) between 20 April to 31 October 2021. Overall, most framings were supportive of the ban, captured by framings that articulated the ban through a health, environment, and organic farming narrative. Framings that foregrounded farmer or industry livelihoods and the pesticide market were primarily adopted to express opposition to the ban. The presence of frames opposing the ban within media articles increased over time during the study period. There was a greater proportion of opposing frames in private newspapers compared to government (78% vs 22%). Many of the articles analysed described the widespread impact of the ban, but only 11% of articles represented the voices of policy end users. This study adds understanding to the ways communication via outlets like mainstream newspapers may shape public support or opposition to pesticide bans in a LMIC. Mass media is an under-recognised factor in policy implementation and this study may inform planning to implement pesticide bans in other countries.
现代农业依赖农药来实现产量最大化。尽管出于对环境和人类健康危害的担忧，许多高危害农药（HHPs）在欧盟等地已被禁用，但它们在许多低收入和中等收入国家（LMICs）仍在使用。农药自杀是使用高危害农药的国家特有的一个公共卫生问题，而斯里兰卡已成功实施了多项高危害农药禁令，作为自杀预防战略的一部分。2021年4月27日，斯里兰卡政府宣布即将禁止所有化肥和农药进口，该禁令后来于2021年11月被撤销。本文的目的是探讨与农药相关的进口禁令在媒体上的框架呈现。在恩特曼的框架功能类型学的指导下，我们分析了2021年4月20日至10月31日期间九家斯里兰卡报纸的文章（N = 102）。总体而言，大多数框架呈现支持该禁令，其通过健康、环境和有机农业的叙述来阐述禁令。突出农民或行业生计以及农药市场的框架呈现主要是为了表达对禁令的反对。在研究期间，媒体文章中反对禁令的框架呈现随时间增加。与政府报纸相比，私营报纸中反对框架的比例更高（78%对22%）。许多分析的文章描述了禁令的广泛影响，但只有11%的文章代表了政策最终用户的声音。这项研究增进了我们对通过主流报纸等渠道进行的传播如何在低收入和中等收入国家塑造公众对农药禁令的支持或反对的理解。大众媒体是政策实施中一个未得到充分认识的因素，这项研究可能为其他国家实施农药禁令的规划提供参考。
