How media empower the vulnerable: Using community structure theory to analyze relationships between demographics and health reporting
Instead of studying the impact of media on society, the traditional “top down” orientation of most communication studies scholars, this keynote presentation adopted the opposite perspective, exploring the “bottom-up” impact of “society” on “media”. Unlike conventional “agenda-setting theory”, which...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020-09-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Nursing Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352013220300806 |
| _version_ | 1818683095473192960 |
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| author | John C. Pollock |
| author_facet | John C. Pollock |
| author_sort | John C. Pollock |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Instead of studying the impact of media on society, the traditional “top down” orientation of most communication studies scholars, this keynote presentation adopted the opposite perspective, exploring the “bottom-up” impact of “society” on “media”. Unlike conventional “agenda-setting theory”, which suggests that nationally prominent news media set issue “agendas” for other news media and public opinion, and also unlike the “guard dog” view that media essentially protect the interests of political and economic elites, the “community structure theory” explores links between different community (typically city or nation-state) demographics and variations in reporting on critical health concerns. Summarizing his scholarship on health communication presented and published over decades, the speaker outlined community structure theory’s illumination of two overall patterns in US and cross-national coverage of health communication issues. In US coverage, broad measures of economically “buffered” privilege (educational, income, or occupational advantage) are linked to “favorable” or “government responsibility” coverage of health issues, and specific measures of “health” privilege (physicians, hospitals) are connected to “favorable” or “government responsibility” coverage promoting selected health issues. In cross-national coverage, specific measures of national “health vulnerability” (such as percent without improved water access, infant mortality rate) are linked to “government” responsibility coverage for selected health issues (human trafficking, water handling/contamination). In addition, broad measures of “macro” vulnerability conditions (agricultural dependence, political instability) are associated with “government” responsibility coverage for a wide range of health issues (genetically modified foods, drug trafficking, condom promotion, and food security). Overall, community structure theory’s “bottom up” perspective reveals how the vulnerable are empowered by their demographic alignment with variations in health communication. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T10:29:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-76b77a8726664b77ac4dbf581915af6c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-0132 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T10:29:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Nursing Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-76b77a8726664b77ac4dbf581915af6c2022-12-21T21:52:34ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Nursing Sciences2352-01322020-09-017S16S18How media empower the vulnerable: Using community structure theory to analyze relationships between demographics and health reportingJohn C. Pollock0Depts. of Communication Studies and Public Health, The College of New Jersey, USAInstead of studying the impact of media on society, the traditional “top down” orientation of most communication studies scholars, this keynote presentation adopted the opposite perspective, exploring the “bottom-up” impact of “society” on “media”. Unlike conventional “agenda-setting theory”, which suggests that nationally prominent news media set issue “agendas” for other news media and public opinion, and also unlike the “guard dog” view that media essentially protect the interests of political and economic elites, the “community structure theory” explores links between different community (typically city or nation-state) demographics and variations in reporting on critical health concerns. Summarizing his scholarship on health communication presented and published over decades, the speaker outlined community structure theory’s illumination of two overall patterns in US and cross-national coverage of health communication issues. In US coverage, broad measures of economically “buffered” privilege (educational, income, or occupational advantage) are linked to “favorable” or “government responsibility” coverage of health issues, and specific measures of “health” privilege (physicians, hospitals) are connected to “favorable” or “government responsibility” coverage promoting selected health issues. In cross-national coverage, specific measures of national “health vulnerability” (such as percent without improved water access, infant mortality rate) are linked to “government” responsibility coverage for selected health issues (human trafficking, water handling/contamination). In addition, broad measures of “macro” vulnerability conditions (agricultural dependence, political instability) are associated with “government” responsibility coverage for a wide range of health issues (genetically modified foods, drug trafficking, condom promotion, and food security). Overall, community structure theory’s “bottom up” perspective reveals how the vulnerable are empowered by their demographic alignment with variations in health communication.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352013220300806Community structure theoryEmpoweringHealth communicationMediaVulnerabilityReporting |
| spellingShingle | John C. Pollock How media empower the vulnerable: Using community structure theory to analyze relationships between demographics and health reporting International Journal of Nursing Sciences Community structure theory Empowering Health communication Media Vulnerability Reporting |
| title | How media empower the vulnerable: Using community structure theory to analyze relationships between demographics and health reporting |
| title_full | How media empower the vulnerable: Using community structure theory to analyze relationships between demographics and health reporting |
| title_fullStr | How media empower the vulnerable: Using community structure theory to analyze relationships between demographics and health reporting |
| title_full_unstemmed | How media empower the vulnerable: Using community structure theory to analyze relationships between demographics and health reporting |
| title_short | How media empower the vulnerable: Using community structure theory to analyze relationships between demographics and health reporting |
| title_sort | how media empower the vulnerable using community structure theory to analyze relationships between demographics and health reporting |
| topic | Community structure theory Empowering Health communication Media Vulnerability Reporting |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352013220300806 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johncpollock howmediaempowerthevulnerableusingcommunitystructuretheorytoanalyzerelationshipsbetweendemographicsandhealthreporting |