What Are Americans Seeing? Examining the Message Frames of Local Television Health News Stories

Abstract

While local television news is the number-one source among Americans for health information, little attention has been given to what viewers are actually watching in these newscasts. Toward this end, a content analysis of local television health news stories (n = 416) was conducted, to examine how local health news stories utilize gain and loss message frames, and whether there are differences in story topics, location, length, presence of self-efficacy methods, and conflict, according to the message frames. Results showed that health news stories that dealt with advancements in treatment or philanthropic events were mainly reported using gain frames, while loss frame health news stories most frequently reported on statistics and trends. The majority of the health news stories were less than 30 seconds among all frames, and conflict appeared more often for the loss frames than gain frames. Furthermore, while efficacy information was mostly absent across all types of frames, gain frames were more likely than loss frames to present efficacy methods. Finally, efficacy information appeared most frequently in health-related statistical reports and prevention messages, while discrimination and health-policy stories had the least efficacy information in them. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.