publications

BMSG's issue series
blue cover with words 'Health Equity' at top in white, and silhouettes of open hands underneath the text. Hands are shown in yellow, purple, teal, red, blue, orange, and green.

‘Those who need it the most’: Equity framing in 2021 U.S. print news about food assistance

Thursday, August 10, 2023

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. In this analysis BMSG researchers and partners examined how, if at all, news coverage of food assistance during the second year of the pandemic framed racial and health equity, and the possible implications of this framing for narrative change going forward.

Cover of the America Journal of Industrial Medicine. Image shows woman working smiling and wearing overalls while holding an industrial sprayer in her hand.

The news about rollover protective structures: Findings from an analysis of news from Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri

Monday, May 22, 2023

Rollover protective structures (ROPS) can prevent fatal tractor overturns, a leading cause of death among farmers. Despite proven success, ROPS — and programs to make them more widely available to farmers — are all but absent from news coverage in key agricultural states, a news analysis, published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, found.

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Connecting housing justice, health, and journalism: A guide for Bay Area news reporters

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Today’s housing climate is the result of centuries of history, policies, and practices. To move forward, we must acknowledge the past and how it shapes our lives today. Read more on how journalists can uncover the roots of housing and health inequities and elevate solutions for social justice, in this new guide from the Council of Community Housing Organizations, the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative, and BMSG.

Cover of the America Journal of Industrial Medicine. Image shows woman working smiling and wearing overalls while holding an industrial sprayer in her hand.

ROPS commentary — Addressing our fatal blind spot: Applying evidence-based solutions to reduce the most frequent cause of death on U.S. farms

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Tractor overturns are the most prominent contributing factor to death on U.S. farms and have been for decades. Yet a highly effective solution — installing rollover protective structures — remains underused, partly because of a lack of public investment. In this commentary, we highlight the science behind this proven solution to tractor overturns and the essential role that the media and implementation science can play in encouraging policy-makers to save lives.

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Elevating Latino experiences and voices in news about racial equity: Findings and recommendations for more complete coverage

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Racial inequities frequently make headlines, but a new study from BMSG, conducted in collaboration with our partners at UnidosUS, has found that the voices and experiences of Latinos — the country’s largest ethnic minority — are rarely included. Our latest report discusses disparities in coverage and outlines steps that journalists, publishers, philanthropists, and advocates can take to help ensure more inclusive, complete coverage.

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Championing public health amid legal and legislative threats: Framing and language recommendations

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

As some politicians and their political allies try to shrink the authority of public health officials and agencies, it is critical that practitioners and advocates are equipped to speak about why we need public health to keep our communities safe and healthy. To help the field make an effective case for public health, BMSG and Real Language, with support from ChangeLab Solutions and the Act for Public Health group, assessed narratives around the current attacks on public health’s authority to identify problematic language and opportunities for improvement. In this report, we offer 5 key recommendations for change.

Housing, equity, and health in U.S. news, 2020-2021: Findings and recommendations

Wednesday, July 06, 2022

Understanding how journalists currently frame housing, and how those choices shape long-term narratives, can help housing and health advocates be strategic about their communication strategies. To understand the specific nuances of how news coverage frames the complex intersections of housing and health equity, BMSG analyzed news about housing and health equity from media markets across the country. We share our findings — and recommendations for advocates and journalists — in this report.

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‘People like us’: News coverage of food assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Thursday, May 12, 2022

Before the pandemic, news about food assistance was dominated by stories about abuse and fraud. To better understand portrayals of food benefits and whether they changed during COVID-19, BMSG conducted a content analysis of news articles and photographs about food insecurity or food assistance published by U.S. newspapers and wire services during the first year of the pandemic.

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