Newspapers Use More Sources Compared to Health Blogs in H1N1/Swine Flu Coverage

The H1N1/swine flu pandemic that caused worldwide illness and could potentially affect thousands of Americans was unarguably the top health story for the year 2009. It was first referred to as "swine flu" and then officially named "H1N1 flu. "1 Originating in Mexico, H1N1/swine flu was first detected in the U.S. in April 2009.2 Soon after, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a "public health emergency of international concern. "3Traditional media have been playing an important role in providing information for people to make health decisions during pandemics like H1N1/swine flu.4 With the tremendous growth of the Internet, online media such as blogs have also become important sources providing up-to-date coverage of public health issues. This study examined the coverage of the H1N1/swine flu pandemic in U.S. newspapers and blogs in 2009 and compared the differences in terms of frames, sources and news cues.Literature ReviewNews frames provide the "ground rules" for an issue in the media.5 Researchers have studied how newspapers frame epidemics. Examining how The New York Times framed three health epidemics (mad cow disease, West Nile virus and avian flu), researchers found that two frames were employed consistently across the diseases: the action frame, which emphasized the preventative action against the disease and the consequence frame that focused on the consequences of the diseases (victims, cost, social impact, etc.). 6 Comparing newspaper coverage of SARS in China and the United States, several frames were identified, including economic consequences, attribution of responsibility, conflict, human interest and severity.7 Not only newspapers but also blogs are considered as "a communication medium" and a form of journalism.8 Blogs can be used as a vital tool for communication during a crisis.9 In a framing study of science and technology blogs, conflict frames were repeatedly found.10 However, there was a limited number of framing analyses on blogs, especially those focusing on public health issues.Besides frames, source and cues are important elements of news coverage.11 Sources, those who are quoted in articles and those who supply background information or contribute to the stories in other ways, are believed to influence media content in tremendous and often subtle ways.12 News cues are important because specific word choices are powerful descriptors that can shape the public's understanding of certain issues.Research QuestionsRQ1:How does framing differ between newspaper and blog coverage of H1N1/swine flu? RQ1a:What frames appear most frequently in newspaper/blog coverage? RQ1b:What is the most frequent dominant frame in newspaper stories/blog posts? RQ2:How do mentions of individual news cues, "swine flu" and "H1N1," differ between newspaper and blog coverage of H1N1/swine flu? RQ3:How do sources differ between newspaper and blog coverage of H1N1/swine flu? RQ4:How frequently are preventative activities suggested to individuals in newspapers and blogs? MethodA content analysis of eight national newspapers13 and eight health expert blogs14 published from April 14, 2009, to Oct. 15, 2009,15 was conducted. The LexisNexis database was used for the search of qualified newspaper stories16 by the keywords "swine flu" and "H1N1. " Qualified blog posts17 were collected directly from each blog's online domain. The final sample included 220 stories (110 newspaper articles and 110 blog posts). 18VariablesThe major variable for this study was news frames. Seven frames19 were identified based on previous studies of framing on influenza.20 In order to provide more in-depth analysis, researchers coded both the frame(s) that appear in each news article/blog post and the frame appearing as the dominant frame. The frame(s) that appeared in a story were coded, then one leading frame that appeared most frequently in the story as the dominant frame was identified. …