Melanie Rock ^1*

¹ University of Calgary

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mrock{at}ucalgary.ca.

	Abstract

Objectives: This study investigated how media coverage has framed diabetes as newsworthy.<BR> Methods: The quantitative component involved tabulating diabetes coverage in two major Canadian newspapers, 1988-2001 and 1991-2001. The qualitative component focused on high-profile coverage in two major US magazines and two major Canadian newspapers, 1998-2000.<BR> Results: While coverage did not consistently increase, the quantitative results suggest an emphasis on linking diabetes with heart disease and mortality to convey its seriousness. The qualitative component identified three main ways of framing type 2 diabetes: as an insidious problem, as a problem associated with particular populations, and as a medical problem.<BR> Conclusions: Overall, the results suggest that researchers and advocates have stressed, when communicating with journalists, that diabetes maims and kills. Yet even when media coverage acknowledged societal forces and circumstances as causes, the proposed remedies did always include or stress modifications to social contexts. Neither the societal causes of public health problems nor possible societal remedies automatically receive attention, from researchers or from journalists. Skilled advocacy is needed to put societal causes and solutions on public agendas.

Key Words: Diabetes, Media, Race/Ethnicity, Social Science, Socioeconomic Factors

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