A retrospective study exploring how South African newspapers framed Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders over an 11-year period (2004–2014) (original) (raw)
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The depiction of people with schizophrenia in news media: A cross-national analysis
2024
Background: Though people with schizophrenia have been habitually stigmatized in the media, the past two decades have seen a substantial rise in public awareness and anti-stigma intervention plans. Aims: In this comprehensive cross-national study, we examine the portrayal of people with schizophrenia in the news media across four countries: the U.S., the U.K., Russia, and Israel. Methods: We employed thematic content analysis to analyze 80 articles from four prominent middle-market and tabloid news media outlets. Results: Findings suggest people with schizophrenia were routinely depicted in the news media as violent and dangerous perpetrators who were typically young adult white males. Conclusions: Though some differences existed between venues in different countries, this study suggests that despite the rise in public awareness and anti-stigma intervention plans, the media overall-regardless of country origin-mostly failed to deliver the desired anti-stigma results.
How do South African newspapers frame schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders?
2022
Background: The way schizophrenia is portrayed in the media contributes to the dissemination of misinformation about the symptoms, causes, and treatment of the mental disorder. The framing of news stories has the potential to perpetuate or mitigate the stigmatization of schizophrenia. While research on the news media's role in exacerbating or mitigating the stigmatization of schizophrenia has been conducted widely in other contexts, our search did not yield any study on media framing of schizophrenia in South Africa. Therefore, this study uses the framing theory to investigate the media framing of schizophrenia in the South African context. Methods: We examined 216 news stories that covered the schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders from 20 South African newspapers retrieved from the SABINET-SA Media online archive over a 10-year period (2004-2014). Thematic analysis was used to analyse the news stories. Results: The ndings show that most of the news stories had problems as their main frame. These were followed by stories framed to diagnose the causes of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders; and stories that made moral judgements about issues around the schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders. Stories that were classi ed as suggesting remedies were relatively less frequent. Problems and causes were the dominant frames each year for the 11year period. Suggested remedies were shown to be the least reported each year. Nonetheless we observed uctuations across the years of analysis. Conclusions: The study underscores the potential role of media analyses in framing schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. We found that using the framing perspective as a way of identifying the primary themes or ideas presented in print media was very useful. Our ndings highlight the need for collaboration between researchers and the media to enhance opportunities for improved and more nuanced reporting of mental health issues.
Health Communication, 2017
A quantitative content analysis examined the portrayal of schizophrenia in eight of the most read online news publications in the United States. The analysis documented the prevalence of stigma frames, which communicate stereotypes concerning schizophrenia, and stigma-challenge frames, which contradict stereotypes, in 558 articles related to schizophrenia. The study also examined the relationship between media framing and reader commentary, including the likelihood of readers posting stigmatizing comments, stigma-challenging comments, and comments in which they disclosed personal experience with mental illness. Stigma frames were prevalent in the sample, suggesting the news media continue associating schizophrenia with violent and criminal behavior. Stigma frames stood greater chance of being accompanied by stigmatizing comments from readers when compared to stigmachallenging frames. Conversely, stigma-challenging frames stood greater chance of being accompanied by stigma-challenging comments from readers. Readers were more likely to disclose personal experience with mental illness when they encountered a stigma-challenging frame. Recommendations are made for journalists and health communicators.
Stigmatisation of Mental Health Conditions in the Media
Stigmatisation of Mental Health Conditions in the Media, 2020
How the media influences societal stigmatisation of mental health conditions through examples from a TV sitcom and news broadcasts during the coronavirus pandemic. Focusing specifically on how stigmatisation of seeking treatment in certain groups of people i.e. males, military personnel, Emergency Services can have detrimental effects. Theories of reducing stigmatisation are also discussed.
The Stigma of Schizophrenia in Romanian Newspapers: a Content Analysis
2013
For most people, media are an important source of information about mental health. Inadequate coverage of mental illness may have a negative impact on public attitudes toward consumers of mental health services. The aim of this article is to identify the content and quality of newspaper articles reporting on schizophrenia. Articles between 2008 and 2011 were analyzed (N=79). First, we used a frame of reference for identifying depictions of schizophrenia in newspapers, proposed by Knifton et al. (2008). Second, after analyzing several media guidelines for reporting on schizophrenia, we derived key indicators of quality reporting, including labels, trivialization of illness and unbalanced storyline. The results show that there were more negative themes than positive ones. Moreover, while the percentage of the dangerousness theme (38%) was higher than the overall percentage of positive themes (22%), discrimination was the least debated issue (6%). In regard to labels, the most prevalen...
Media, mental health and discrimination: a frame of reference for understanding reporting trends
The International Journal of Mental Health …, 2008
Mental health-related stigma and discrimination are a significant public health issue. Media reports can both reflect and influence public attitudes. However, media reports can be subtle and contradictory and many previous studies do not adequately capture trends in the range and balance of reporting of different mental health problems. This paper develops a frame of reference that identifies a wider range of themes that can be used to capture a more representative picture of reporting than pre-imposing content analysis categories. This frame of reference was applied to assess trends in schizophrenia reports in the broadsheet media in Scotland, between 2001 and 2005, to coincide with See Me, a national anti-stigma media campaign. A number of key findings emerged, including a wider than expected range of both positive and negative images. This study suggests that a national media campaign can succeed in breaking the perceived link between schizophrenia and dangerousness. However, campaigns should give more emphasis to the range of subtle, negative reporting. They should promote, in conjunction with media volunteers, a wider range of positive stories about recovery, talent and social contribution.
The Stigma of Schizophrenia in Romanian Newspapers: a Content Analysis Approach
Sociologie Româneasca = Romanian Sociology, 2013
For most people, media are an important source of information about mental health. Inadequate coverage of mental illness may have a negative impact on public attitudes toward consumers of mental health services. The aim of this article is to identify the content and quality of newspaper articles reporting on schizophrenia. Articles between 2008 and 2011 were analyzed (N=79). First, we used a frame of reference for identifying depictions of schizophrenia in newspapers, proposed by Knifton et al. (2008). Second, after analyzing several media guidelines for reporting on schizophrenia, we derived key indicators of quality reporting, including labels, trivialization of illness and unbalanced storyline. The results show that there were more negative themes than positive ones. Moreover, while the percentage of the dangerousness theme (38%) was higher than the overall percentage of positive themes (22%), discrimination was the least debated issue (6%). In regard to labels, the most prevalen...
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2019
Purpose People with mental illness suffer from the consequences of stigma. Interventions to reduce stigma should focus on alternative approaches that target false beliefs toward mental disorders. The effectiveness of two messages to reduce stigma toward schizophrenia was tested: a traditional public responsibility message that attributes stigma to public misunderstandings, and an alternative media responsibility message that attributes stigma to bias in media representations. Methods An experiment with Americans (N = 448) randomly assigned to a public responsibility message, a media responsibility message, or a control condition. Participants in the two message conditions completed measures of guilt and reactance toward the media. Perceptions of personal responsibility and dangerousness, and social rejection intentions were assessed for all participants. Results Both messages lowered perceptions of dangerousness and social rejection intentions, relative to control. The media responsibility generated more reactance toward the media than the public responsibility approach, but not more guilt. Reactance did not mediate message effects. Perceptions of personal responsibility were reduced after exposure to the public responsibility message, but only for participants with no prior contact with mental illness. Conclusions Both approaches reduced perceptions of dangerousness and social rejection intentions. Stigma reduction campaigns might segment the audience based on prior contact.
The changing face of newspaper representations of the mentally ill
Journal of Mental Health, 2013
"Background: Negative stereotypes presented in the media may contribute to the stigma associated with mental illness. People’s attitudes towards the mentally ill are initially influenced and subsequently maintained in part by the frequent media presentation of negative stereotypes of mental illness. This could result in social rejection of individuals with mental illnesses. Aim: To explore how four main UK national newspapers reported on mental health/mental illness stories over a 10-year period. Method: This study utilised content analysis to identify words, themes and trends of representation related to the mentally ill in articles from the four newspapers. Results: The findings indicated that there was an increase in the number of articles related to mental health/illness over the time of the study. The rate of increase was far greater than that for the increase in the total number of articles carried in the press over this time period. It was also identified that pejorative terms were used, in a number of the articles, to describe the mentally ill person. Conclusion: Many of the newspaper reports highlighted the need for protection of the general public from the mentally ill, and that the mentally ill were in some way different to the general public. In par- ticular, both the words “violence” and “drugs” were linked to mental health/mental illness in these articles."