Teen pregnancy awareness

Element #2 – MEDIA COVERAGE ANALYSIS

The public image of health policy initiatives depends heavily on their portrayal in the news media. Do the media present a fair and balanced portrayal of various health policies? This assignment gives you experience in surveying and analyzing the style and substance of media coverage on your policy topic.

Choose a specific topic area within your policy category. For example, if your policy category is motor vehicle injuries, you can focus your media analysis on motorcycle helmet policies. Long term care

Specify a period of coverage. If your topic is hot and current, you may need to narrow your coverage period to one month, such as August 1-31, 2014. If your topic is older and less controversial, you may need to broaden the coverage period to three or six months in order to locate sufficient news reports.

Research traditional and social news outlets for coverage on your topic area, including televised coverage, print media, cable and satellite coverage, social media outlets, social blogs, press releases, issue and policy briefs.

Create a chart using the following as an example.
1. Your chart must include a minimum of 15 entries.
2. Rate the tone of the news feature – is it advocating for or against the policy or stating the facts in a neutral way?
3. Rate the use of substantiated facts and data – is it relying on opinion and individual comments or does it use hard data to make a point?

1 = opinion with little to no data support and 5 = factually and data-oriented

TOPIC AREA: Sugary Drink Tax Policies

COVERAGE PERIOD: July 1-30, 2014

Outlet & Type	Coverage Type	Title	Date	Tone	Data Rating
Al Jazeera America Cable, satellite and on-line news	On-line article	San Francisco to Vote on Sugary Drink Tax in November	July 22, 2014	Neutral	5
The Washington Times Print and on-line news	Print and on-line editorial	The Food Police Try to Arrest Soda, Again	July 21, 2014	Negative	2
CBS This Morning Television & Radio Network	TV news broadcast	Proposed Soda Tax Divides California Residents	July 12, 2014	Neutral	2

Create an appropriate graph displaying the percentage of news by type of coverage:
1. Press Release
2. Editorial & Opinion Page
3. Feature Article
4. Televised
5. National Public Radio (NPR)
6. Social Blog
7. Issue or Policy Brief
8. Social Media

Grading Tip: if your chart has minimal types of coverage, such as 50% blog and 50% televised, you did not research thoroughly. Ensure that you have a representative set of coverage types in your chart.

Create an appropriate graph displaying the percentage of news of tone:
1. Positive
2. Neutral
3. Negative

Reflection Questions (short answer):
1. What descriptive language (words or phrases) was used in the media to portray the policy in a positive light? Negative light?
2. Was the media coverage primarily positive, negative or neutral? For what reason do you attribute this type of coverage?
3. How well did the media use available data and facts-based reporting? Make one suggestion on how data could have been used to explain the issue better.
4. What is your overall assessment of the media’s performance on their portrayal of your policy topic?
5. How does mass media play a role in health policy making?

………………..Answer Preview……………….

Topic coverage: Teen pregnancy awareness

Teen pregnancy is usually defined as human pregnancies among female members of the society who are aged below 20 years. Pregnancy can occur in female members before the first menstruation period but in most cases usually occur after this stage. Teen pregnancy is usually discouraged across the world as it is believed to deny young girls opportunity to improve the quality of their lives. This is because of the fact that this is the age at which they are required to be in school.

Teen pregnancy is a topic that has well been in covered……………….

APA

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