TY - JOUR
T1 - Local television news coverage of the affordable care act
T2 - Emphasizing politics over consumer information
AU - Gollust, Sarah E.
AU - Baum, Laura M.
AU - Niederdeppe, Jeff
AU - Barry, Colleen L.
AU - Fowler, Erika Franklin
PY - 2017/5
Y1 - 2017/5
N2 - Objectives. To examine the public health and policy-relevant messages conveyed through local television news during the first stage of Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation, when about 10 million Americans gained insurance. Methods. We conducted a content analysis of 1569 ACA-related local evening television news stories, obtained from sampling local news aired between October 1, 2013, and April 19, 2014. Coders systematically collected data using a coding instrument tracking major messages and information sources cited in the news. Results. Overall, only half of all ACA-related news coverage focused on health insurance products,whereastheremainderdiscussedpoliticaldisagreementsoverthelaw.Majorpolicy tools of the ACA-the Medicaid expansion and subsidies available-were cited in less than 10% of news stories. Number of enrollees (27%) and Web site glitches (33%) were more common features of coverage. Sources with a political affiliation were by far the most commonsourceofinformation(> 40%),whereasresearchwascitedinlessthan4%ofstories. Conclusions. The most common source of news for Americans provided little public health-relevant substance about the ACA during its early implementation, favoring political strategy in coverage.
AB - Objectives. To examine the public health and policy-relevant messages conveyed through local television news during the first stage of Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation, when about 10 million Americans gained insurance. Methods. We conducted a content analysis of 1569 ACA-related local evening television news stories, obtained from sampling local news aired between October 1, 2013, and April 19, 2014. Coders systematically collected data using a coding instrument tracking major messages and information sources cited in the news. Results. Overall, only half of all ACA-related news coverage focused on health insurance products,whereastheremainderdiscussedpoliticaldisagreementsoverthelaw.Majorpolicy tools of the ACA-the Medicaid expansion and subsidies available-were cited in less than 10% of news stories. Number of enrollees (27%) and Web site glitches (33%) were more common features of coverage. Sources with a political affiliation were by far the most commonsourceofinformation(> 40%),whereasresearchwascitedinlessthan4%ofstories. Conclusions. The most common source of news for Americans provided little public health-relevant substance about the ACA during its early implementation, favoring political strategy in coverage.
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U2 - 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303659
DO - 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303659
M3 - Review article
C2 - 28207336
AN - SCOPUS:85020737350
SN - 0090-0036
VL - 107
SP - 687
EP - 693
JO - American journal of public health
JF - American journal of public health
IS - 5
ER -