publications

BMSG's issue series

Advocating for soda taxes: How oral health professionals fit in

Thursday, September 29, 2016

BMSG’s recent analysis of how soda tax debates are characterized in the news revealed that oral health professionals seldom appear. By elevating their expert voices, oral health practitioners can contribute new and salient arguments for soda taxes to the public discourse and help advance public policy that improves oral health outcomes. In this journal article for the California Dental Association, we propose media advocacy strategies that oral health professionals can use to increase their visibility in the news to make the case for soda taxes.

Changing the discourse about community violence: To prevent it, we have to talk about it

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

It will be easier to make the big changes our communities need to prevent violence if we change the narrative around it and make prevention a visible part of the conversation. In this report, Berkeley Media Studies Group, in partnership with the Prevention Institute and with support from the Northern California Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit Department, explores news portrayals of community violence and makes recommendations for how to shift one piece of the discourse ‰— the news media ‰— to elevate prevention and multi-sector collaboration.

Why media representations of corporations matter for public health policy: A scoping review

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Media representations play a crucial role in informing public and policy opinions about the causes of, and solutions to, ill-health. This paper, co-authored by BMSG’s Lori Dorfman and published in BMC Public Health, reviews studies analyzing media coverage of non-communicable disease debates, focusing on how the industries marketing commodities that increase disease risk are represented.

Workshop summary: Climate change and health communications

Thursday, June 30, 2016

In October 2015, the Center for Climate Change and Health convened a group of 20 health and communication experts to discuss how past health communication campaigns can inform work on climate change. This summary of that workshop, which was developed with consultation from BMSG’s Lori Dorfman, includes insights from tobacco control, obesity prevention, media advocacy and health equity communications. It also features recommendations for policy-change goals, research, framing and messaging.

Communication strategies to advance Vision Zero

Monday, June 13, 2016

This case study from the Vision Zero Network, which aims to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, examines the communication approaches that San Francisco and New York City have used to frame traffic deaths as preventable and foster both individual and institutional change. The case study includes contributions and insights from BMSG’s Pamela Mejia on the media’s role in influencing the public’s and policymakers’ perceptions of the issue.

Tobacco, alcohol, and processed food industries — why do public health practitioners view them so differently?

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Public health officials often view food companies as legitimate partners in improving population health, even as they eschew interactions with the tobacco and alcohol industries. In this journal article for Frontiers in Public Health, BMSG’s Lori Dorfman, along with colleagues from the U.S., U.K. and Germany, explore why this is the case, in spite of significant health harms associated with all three industries. They also make recommendations for steps that public health researchers can take to reduce harmful corporate influences on health.

What surrounds us shapes us: Making the environmental case for tobacco control

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Environments play a large role in influencing the public’s health. Yet, in the United States, most people think that individuals are masters of their own destiny. Advocates can use this resource to learn how to create messages that broaden individual responsibility frames and help people see that environments affect health. When people understand that connection, they are more likely to support policies that improve those environments.

Infographic: Nine recommendations for sugary drink tax advocates

Thursday, January 28, 2016

In 2014, the residents of Berkeley, California, launched an effort to institute the nation’s first tax on sugary drinks. Along with our partners at JSI, we examined the social media activism surrounding the successful “Berkeley vs. Big Soda” campaign on Twitter and Facebook. Based on our findings, we offer nine recommendations for advocates looking to promote similar policy changes.

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