publications

BMSG's issue series
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Product: The 4 Ps of marketing — selling junk food to communities of color

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Although food and beverage companies market junk foods and sugar drinks heavily through advertisements and social media promotions, the product being marketed is itself a form of marketing. In this brief, part of a series on target marketing, we explain how food and beverage companies develop products to appeal specifically to low-income communities and communities of color — and why doing so contributes to health inequities.

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Price: The 4 Ps of marketing — selling junk food to communities of color

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Many of the foods and beverages marketed to low-income communities and communities of color — and sold at low prices — such as sodas, processed snacks, and fast-food meals, are also low in nutrients and high in sugars, salt, and fats. In this brief, part of a series on target marketing, we examine how the food and beverage industry carefully sets prices to appeal to specific groups, particularly those already at an increased risk of diet-related diseases.

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GOTMME media advocacy planning tool

Wednesday, July 03, 2019

This worksheet is designed to help media advocates plan their communication work in a strategic, coordinated manner. Using “GOTMME,” a 6-step planning process, advocates can identify their policy goals, objectives, and target audiences; craft their messages; identify their messenger(s); and evaluate their results.

housing report cover

Equity and health in housing coverage: A preliminary news analysis from Northern California

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Housing impacts health in widespread, well-documented ways. But does media coverage reflect this? To find out, BMSG analyzed news from the San Francisco Bay Area — the epicenter of the crisis — and paid special attention to how equity and health appear in coverage. While the analysis focused on local news, our report provides insights for housing advocates across the country.

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The child welfare system in U.S. news: What’s missing?

Tuesday, April 09, 2019

In nearly 60 percent of the families where domestic violence is identified, some form of co-occurring child abuse is also present. But does the news make this connection clear? In this analysis, we explore how the child welfare system is portrayed in the news, including whether solutions are present and how race and gender appear in coverage. And we provide recommendations for steps that practitioners and journalists can take to strengthen reporting on this issue.

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Immigration in the news: An analysis of coverage from four California counties

Thursday, February 28, 2019

The hostile political climate facing immigrants in many parts of California means that communicating strategically and centering equity in those narratives is both challenging and urgent. To better understand the current conversation around immigration, BMSG conducted a news analysis of media coverage in four California counties. We explored the factors driving coverage, whose voices are over- or under-represented, the degree to which health is present, and whether the news about immigration contains stigmatizing language.

cover of journal article on foreclosure crisis

Local health departments addressing the social determinants of health: A national survey on the foreclosure crisis

Monday, February 25, 2019

The foreclosure crisis has had more than just financial consequences for families throughout the United States; it has also been linked to negative mental and physical health outcomes and has disproportionately harmed communities of color. What role, then, should local health departments (LHDs) play in addressing social determinants of health, such as housing? In this article for the journal Health Equity, BMSG’s Katherine Schaff and Lori Dorfman report that more than a quarter of LHDs engaged in work related to the foreclosure crisis, and 30 percent of those surveyed said that LHDs should work on this issue.

Changing the discourse about violence: A strategic communication toolkit

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

To end violence, we need to invest in the communities most affected by violence and the solutions that we know are effective. Doing that requires changing the way policymakers and the public think, talk, and write about violence. BMSG developed this toolkit to help practitioners, advocates, residents, and others frame violence from a community perspective and harness the power of the media to achieve change.

Cover of journal article

The Woodhull study revisited: Nurses’ representation in health news media 20 years later

Friday, October 12, 2018

Twenty years ago, The Woodhull Study on Nursing and the Media found that nurses were cited as sources in only 4% of health news stories. In 2017, researchers from Berkeley Media Studies Group and the George Washington University School of Nursing’s Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement replicated the study and found that nurses remain invisible in health news media, despite their increasing levels of education, unique roles, and expertise.

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