Join BMSG at APHA 2019
by: Heather Gehlert
posted on Monday, October 28, 2019
BMSG is excited to be among the nearly 13,000 people participating in this year’s annual meeting of the American Public Health Association.
We’ll be presenting three posters this year as part of the conference theme: “Creating the healthiest nation. For science. For action. For health.” One often overlooked factor that shapes how people think about, talk about, and act on health issues and scientific research is media coverage. With that in mind, our research team analyzed California news coverage of three important public health and social justice issues — cannabis legislation, police violence, and housing instability — to find out how they are portrayed, and whether journalists are making links to health and equity clear. In each of our poster sessions, we will share key findings, implications for public health practitioners, and recommendations for shifting these narratives in ways that better support racial equity and health.
You can find more details on our sessions below and browse other presentations from our parent organization, the Public Health Institute, at https://www.phiapha.org/. You can also view the full APHA program here. We hope to see you in Philadelphia!
Cannabis coverage: An analysis of news about cannabis policy from four California counties
Sunday, Nov. 3: 2 – 3 p.m.
Legalizing cannabis has generated heated public debate about its potential impact on public health and health equity outcomes. To understand the nuances of that debate, we analyzed news coverage from selected California counties in the months before and after legalization in January of 2018. We found that few articles addressed health or safety concerns about cannabis legalization (13% of articles) — and that even fewer talked about racial equity or economic justice concerns, such as efforts to ensure that small, local farmers were not “squeezed out” by larger corporate entities.
In this poster session, we will discuss our findings, consider what they could mean for efforts to shift public narratives about cannabis, and explore opportunities for public health practitioners and other stakeholders to elevate health and racial equity issues.
Beyond the headlines: News coverage of officer-involved shootings in California
Monday, Nov. 4: 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Police violence is a pressing public health and social justice issue, but not all officer-involved shootings capture the attention of the news media. Complete and accurate news coverage of these shootings is critical because we can’t solve a problem we don’t know is happening. To find out how the news reports on officer-involved shootings and their victims in California, our researchers analyzed coverage from more than 70 California newspapers. We found that most of those killed were men of color, and coverage of their deaths was sparse: Most shootings generated an average of two articles, and for almost one-third of all shootings (31%), we found no coverage at all.
In this poster session, we will discuss these findings in greater depth and talk about what they could mean for efforts to shape public dialogue about officer-involved shootings, keep victims’ stories in the spotlight, and include prevention in the conversation.
News about the Bay Area housing crisis: An analysis of coverage on the CASA compact
Tuesday, Nov. 5: 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
While the link between housing and health is well documented, there is less research on how public health practitioners can talk about housing as a social determinant of health. To support local public health organizations that are engaged at the intersection of housing and health, we analyzed news coverage about the Bay Area housing crisis, focusing on the work of a diverse, multisector set of partners (The Committee to House the Bay Area, or CASA) who created a set of local, regional, and state policy and funding recommendations. Specifically, we looked at who was quoted and how, if at all, issues of equity and health appeared in connection to housing. Our analysis revealed that only about a quarter of articles discussed equity, such as the displacement of communities of color and low-income families.
As part of this poster session, we will discuss what these omissions in coverage mean for efforts to change public narratives about housing and will provide public health practitioners with recommendations that can inform current and future work to address housing as a social determinant of health.
We’ll be sharing highlights from APHA 2019 on our social media channels! Follow our updates @BMSG and on Facebook, and join the conversation by tweeting our sessions using the hashtags #PHIAPHA and #APHA2019.