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.
Public health practitioners around the world are excited about the potential of sugary drink taxes for protecting the public’s health. To better understand public support for — and opposition to — such taxes, BMSG analyzed how a recent Washington, D.C., tax proposal was discussed and debated in the news. We also explored how the issue showed up in social media conversations. In this report, we present an overview of past research on sugary drink taxes in news coverage and share our latest findings.
To help ensure equitable vaccination rates in all neighborhoods, public health advocates and practitioners must center communities of color in their messages. Being silent on racism allows vaccine opponents to invoke medical oppression in their communication, stoking further division, hesitancy, and distrust. This video, the third in a series from BMSG, offers strategic communication tips for advancing racial and health equity in immunizations.
Recent research has found that countermarketing campaigns can be an effective way to reduce the demand for sugary drinks by exposing the beverage industry’s manipulative behavior, in much the same way that anti-tobacco campaigns successfully villainized Big Tobacco. However, as BMSG Director Dr. Lori Dorfman points out in this commentary for AJPH, grassroots health messages rarely have the same reach as well-funded efforts like the original “Truth” campaign, which was funded using money from a tobacco settlement. And while social media is cheap, platforms like Facebook are part of the problem, as they are among the world’s largest junk food marketers. Read the commentary to learn the steps Dr. Dorfman recommends for ensuring that anti-soda countermarketing campaigns are as effective as possible.
To boost vaccine rates, public health practitioners and advocates need more than just compelling messages; we also must confront the practical barriers that make it hard for some people to access the vaccine — and credible information about it. In this video, the second in a series from BMSG, we discuss the context for why vaccination rates are lagging in some communities.
A key component of stopping gun violence and firearm suicide in America is understanding the complete picture of these public health crises. Do journalists cover these issues thoroughly and effectively? How has coverage changed in recent years since nationwide protests against police brutality and structural racism have put some types of gun violence under more intense scrutiny? Recent research from BMSG, part of a larger project with our partners at the Hope and Heal Fund, sheds light on the coverage and how advocates can continue to shift the narrative on violence.
Non-Black older men have historically been overrepresented in mainstream news coverage, including primetime cable TV programming. A new analysis from BMSG has found that little has changed, even in the weeks following major national events that call for Black voices, like the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder and the declaration of Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Our new report explores the depth of the disparity, especially for transgender people and older Black women.
As the Delta variant surges, it’s more critical than ever to communicate with the public in ways that foster trust. In this new video, the first in a new series from Berkeley Media Studies Group, BMSG offers strategic communication tips to help public health advocates and practitioners do just that. Check it out and learn more about COVID-related communication at www.bmsg.org/covid-19.
