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There is a burgeoning interest in the health and illness content of popular media in the domains of advertising, journalism, and entertainment. This article reviews the past 10 years of this research, describing the relationship between the health topics addressed in the research, the shifting focus of concerns about the media, and, ultimately, the variation in problems for health promotion. I suggest that research attending to topics related to bodily health challenges focused on whether popular media accurately or appropriately represented health challenges. The implication was that there is some consensus about more right or wrong, complete or incomplete ways of representing an issue; the problem was that the media are generally wrong. Alternatively, research addressing topics related to sociocultural context issues focused on how certain interests are privileged in the media. The implication was that competing groups are making claims on the system, but the problem was that popular media marginalizes certain interests. In short, popular media is not likely to facilitate understandings helpful to individuals coping with health challenges and is likely to perpetuate social and political power differentials with regard to health-related issues. I conclude by offering some possibilities for future health media content research.

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We conducted a qualitative study to elicit attitudes, attributions, and self-efficacy related to diabetes self-care in both English- and Spanish-speaking Hispanic men. Transcripts from six focus groups (three in English and three in Spanish) were reviewed by the authors to extract principal and secondary themes. Participants could describe their medication and lifestyle regimens and were aware of whether they were adherent or nonadherent to physician recommendations. Lack of skills on how to incorporate diet and regular physical activity into daily living, lack of will power, and reluctance to change culturally rooted behaviors emerged as significant barriers to diabetes self-management. Medication adherence is for some men the principal diabetes self-care behavior. Nonadherence appeared to fit two profiles: 1) intentional, and 2) nonintentional. In both instances low self-efficacy emerged as a significant influence on attainment and maintenance of diabetes self-care goals. Participants also expressed a strong sense of fatalism regarding the course of their disease, and seemed to have little motivation to attempt long-term dietary control. Educational and counseling messages should stress that a diagnosis of diabetes is not a death sentence, and full functional capacity can be maintained with good control.

Purpose This study aimed to determine the temporal association of print media coverage and Internet search activity with adverse events reports associated with the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil® (HPV4) and the meningitis vaccine Menactra® (MNQ) among U.S. adolescents. Methods We used moderated linear regression to test the relationships between print media reports in top circulating newspapers, Internet search activity, and reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for HPV4 and MNQ during the first 2.5 years post-FDA approval. Results Compared to MNQ, HPV4 had more coverage in the print media and Internet search activity, which corresponded with the frequency of VAERS reports. In February 2007, we observed a spike in print media for HPV4. Although media coverage waned, Internet search activity remained stable and predicted the rise in HPV4-associated VAERS reports. Conclusions We demonstrate that media coverage and Internet search activity, in particular, may promote increased adverse event reporting. Public health officials who have long recognized the importance of proactive engagement with news media must now consider strategies for meaningful participation in Internet discussions.