Rollover protective structures (ROPS) can prevent fatal tractor overturns, a leading cause of death among farmers. Despite proven success, ROPS — and programs to make them more widely available to farmers — are all but absent from news coverage in key agricultural states, a news analysis, published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, found.
Today’s housing climate is the result of centuries of history, policies, and practices. To move forward, we must acknowledge the past and how it shapes our lives today. Read more on how journalists can uncover the roots of housing and health inequities and elevate solutions for social justice, in this new guide from the Council of Community Housing Organizations, the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative, and BMSG.
Tractor overturns are the most prominent contributing factor to death on U.S. farms and have been for decades. Yet a highly effective solution — installing rollover protective structures — remains underused, partly because of a lack of public investment. In this commentary, we highlight the science behind this proven solution to tractor overturns and the essential role that the media and implementation science can play in encouraging policy-makers to save lives.
Racial inequities frequently make headlines, but a new study from BMSG, conducted in collaboration with our partners at UnidosUS, has found that the voices and experiences of Latinos — the country’s largest ethnic minority — are rarely included. Our latest report discusses disparities in coverage and outlines steps that journalists, publishers, philanthropists, and advocates can take to help ensure more inclusive, complete coverage.
As some politicians and their political allies try to shrink the authority of public health officials and agencies, it is critical that practitioners and advocates are equipped to speak about why we need public health to keep our communities safe and healthy. To help the field make an effective case for public health, BMSG and Real Language, with support from ChangeLab Solutions and the Act for Public Health group, assessed narratives around the current attacks on public health’s authority to identify problematic language and opportunities for improvement. In this report, we offer 5 key recommendations for change.
Understanding how journalists currently frame housing, and how those choices shape long-term narratives, can help housing and health advocates be strategic about their communication strategies. To understand the specific nuances of how news coverage frames the complex intersections of housing and health equity, BMSG analyzed news about housing and health equity from media markets across the country. We share our findings — and recommendations for advocates and journalists — in this report.
How do California news outlets talk about recovery from the pandemic? Whose voices appear and whose are absent? How are topics like housing, food access, and community safety discussed? In this analysis, BMSG explores these questions and offers tips for centering equity.
Before the pandemic, news about food assistance was dominated by stories about abuse and fraud. To better understand portrayals of food benefits and whether they changed during COVID-19, BMSG conducted a content analysis of news articles and photographs about food insecurity or food assistance published by U.S. newspapers and wire services during the first year of the pandemic.
Shame is all too common in communication about vaccines, but we should avoid it because it is not effective at changing individuals’ hearts and minds. Instead, as research has shown, we need to demonstrate empathy, listen without judgment, and share messages using credible local spokespeople who are easy for audiences to relate to. Learn more in this video, the fourth in a series from Berkeley Media Studies Group.
