Reporting gaps between news media and scientific papers on outdoor air pollution–related health outcomes: A content analysis

• Published in: The International journal of health planning and management Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 221 - 232
• Main Authors: Sun, Zhuanlan, Cang, Jun, Ruan, Yuhui, Zhu, Demi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Air pollution; Air pollution measurements; Citations; Content analysis; Correlation analysis; Correlation coefficients; Extrapolation; Health administration; health outcomes; Health problems; Health risks; Health status; Journalists; Misrepresentation; News media; outdoor air pollution; Qualitative research; Researchers; Scientific papers; China; health outcomes; content analysis; scientific papers; outdoor air pollution; news media
• ISSN: 0749-6753; 1099-1751
• DOI: 10.1002/hpm.2894

Summary Objectives In China, news media are useful for educating the public about the health threats of air pollution. To explore the potential gaps between scientific findings and the public's understanding of them, the characteristics of news media articles and their corresponding scientific papers were analysed. Methods We used 22 articles relating to the health outcomes of exposure to outdoor air pollution published on Baidu News over the past year. An assessment tool developed by Robinson et al was used to evaluate the quality scores of news articles. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to measure the relationship between news media reporting and the characteristics of scientific papers. Misleading reporting, interpretation, or extrapolation in headlines and text bodies of news articles were examined. Results The quality scores of the news articles ranged from −4 to 8, with an overall median score of 3. Correlation results showed that the scientific papers citation in Twitter (r = .88, P < .001) and Facebook (r = .64, P < .01) were significantly and positively associated with their citations in news stories. Media misunderstanding of scientific findings was common: 15 news headlines were identified with at least one spin (misrepresentation of scientific results), and 12 news articles had seven types of spin in the body texts. Conclusion Little media attention has been paid to scientific findings by Chinese researchers. Therefore, researchers and science journalists in China should make a better effort to engage in accurate and informative public discourse on domestic research.