Join BMSG at APHA 2023
by: Lunden Mason
posted on Monday, November 06, 2023
This year’s American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting & Expo — “Creating the Healthiest Nation: Overcoming Social and Ethical Challenges” — exemplifies public health practitioners’ and advocates’ ultimate goal amid current threats from rampant climate change, violence, and inequity. Despite the enormity of these challenges, the theme also offers hope and points to opportunities to strengthen our public infrastructure so that we can tackle these and other pressing issues together.
To bolster advocates’ efforts to make a more effective case for creating safe, equitable, healthy communities, BMSG will be presenting findings from our research on how the news characterizes a range of issues, from anti-hunger programs to the intersection of domestic violence and homelessness. Knowing how issues appear in the media offers advocates a window into how the public and policymakers are likely to understand social problems and what we can do to address them. It can also inform advocates’ communication strategies and help journalists tell a more complete story about the social and environmental context for health.
We hope you’ll be able to join us at APHA, Nov. 12-15 in Atlanta, or view our sessions virtually. See below for detailed session information, and engage with us online using #APHA2023. Session details for other Public Health Institute programs can be found on PHI’s website and on X (formerly Twitter) at #phiAPHA.
Safe at home: News coverage about domestic violence and homelessness in California, and opportunities to build narrative power
Monday, Nov. 13, 8:30 a.m. ET
Homelessness and domestic violence (DV) are inextricably linked, but they’re not always understood that way, in part because communicating about the intersections of such complex topics can be challenging. Narratives that frame these politically fraught issues as distinct and intractable can limit how they are understood by policymakers and the public. Berkeley Media Studies Group has partnered with the Housing Opportunities Mean Everything (HOME) Cohort to identify and explore opportunities for narrative change in California. In this session led by Sarah Perez-Sanz, media researcher at BMSG, we will lay a foundation to help advocates begin to shift the narrative about why addressing homelessness and DV matters for everyone. View the presentation slides.
The news about rollover protective structures: Findings from an analysis of news from Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri
Monday, Nov. 13, 2:30 p.m. ET
Tractor rollovers are the leading cause of death among farmers. Rollover protective structures (ROPS) — bars or cabs installed above the seats on tractors manufactured before 1985 — prevent death and severe injury and, when used with a seatbelt, they are 99% effective in preventing fatalities from tractor overturns. Yet, these structures remain underused, partly because of a lack of public investment. Access to ROPS represents a health equity issue, as smaller farms with fewer resources are more likely to be using older tractors on uneven or hilly farmland, and small farms are particularly affected by cost as a barrier to installing ROPS. This session, presented by BMSG Media Researcher Sarah Perez-Sanz, will discuss how public health practitioners can work with the news media to build understanding of the risks of farming and how ROPS can prevent death or injury. With more news attention, policymakers could turn their attention to farm safety policies, such as ROPS, that are key to improving community health. View the poster.
Equity in Action? Assessing the role of community in declarations of racism as a public health crisis
Tuesday, Nov. 14, 8:30 a.m. ET
Pamela Mejia, BMSG’s associate program director and director of research, and Sarah Perez-Sanz, media researcher at BMSG, will present findings from a series of surveys, learning circles, and media analyses to examine the extent to which community basebuilding organizations (CBOs) played a role in declarations of racism as a public health crisis. The media analysis looked at which declarations were included in media coverage and how communities took part in calling for and implementing change. This session will provide an opportunity to discuss how to authentically center community in political processes and the news, based on findings from government representatives, CBOs, and the media analysis. View the presentation slides.
Those who need it most: Equity framing in 2021 U.S. print news about food assistance
Tuesday, Nov. 14, 12:30 p.m. ET
Food assistance has been part of the U.S. social safety net for decades, although not without controversy over who should receive benefits and in what form. These issues became even more significant with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many Americans relied on food assistance programs. Our research found that, although marginalized groups were disproportionately impacted by food insecurity during the pandemic, the news media rarely framed food assistance as a way to address racial inequities. This session, presented by Pamela Mejia, BMSG’s associate program director and director of research, will focus on building a foundation for advocates and journalists to elucidate the importance of food assistance as a means of furthering racial equity. View the poster.
Unearthing inequities: News narratives about parks, people, and power
Tuesday, Nov. 14, 12:30 p.m. ET
BMSG Media Researcher Kim Garcia will be presenting on how park and green space inequities stem from a history of racist policies and practices that still endure today. The experiences of those most impacted by these inequities, however, are not centered in the local or national discourse about parks, or solutions to make access to green space more equitable. This session seeks to help advocates begin to shift the narrative about how parks, green spaces, health, and equity are interconnected. View the poster.
Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes on twitter: An analysis of tweets about four California taxes, 2015-2018
Wednesday, Nov. 15, 11 a.m. ET
Taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) can reduce consumption, illness burden, and health inequities, and generate revenue for health programs. Supporters and opponents have debated SSB tax proposals in social media, an increasingly important source of information that can inform public discourse. In this session, BMSG Media Researcher Kim Garcia will highlight the importance of avoiding “elephant triggers” — arguments that raise the precise frames we are intending to counter, even if only to refute them — when discussing SSB taxes. View the presentation slides.