Automatically quantifying the scientific quality and sensationalism of news records mentioning pandemics: validating a maximum entropy machine-learning model

Hoffman, Steven J.; Justicz, Victoria

doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2015.12.010

Cited by 25 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Qualitative analysis of news media and political speeches can also be helpful. 21 There are additional insights to be gained from probing why other recent outbreaks, such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, were not declared PHEICs. More research should also be conducted to better understand the role that scientific uncertainty may play in delaying political responses to outbreaks, as well as to better understand the additional factors beyond lagging political mobilization that contribute to delayed action.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delays in Global Disease Outbreak Responses: Lessons from H1N1, Ebola, and Zika

2018

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In global disease outbreaks, there are significant time delays between the source of an outbreak and collective action. Some delay is necessary, but recent delays have been extended by insufficient surveillance capacity and time-consuming efforts to mobilize action. Three public health emergencies of international concern (PHEICs)-H1N1, Ebola, and Zika-allow us to identify and compare sources of delays and consider seven hypotheses about what influences the length of delays. These hypotheses can then motivate further research that empirically tests them. The three PHEICs suggest that deferred global mobilization is a greater source of delay than is poor surveillance capacity. These case study outbreaks support hypotheses that we see quicker responses for novel diseases when outbreaks do not coincide with holidays and when US citizens are infected. They do not support hypotheses that we see quicker responses for more severe outbreaks or those that threaten larger numbers of people. Better understanding the reason for delays can help target policy interventions and identify the kind of global institutional changes needed to reduce the spread and severity of future PHEICs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delays in Global Disease Outbreak Responses: Lessons from H1N1, Ebola, and Zika

2018

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“…These videos were rated by the PI and an independent rater on a number of variables, including production quality, believability, attire of presenters, lighting, primary topic, and the rater's opinion of the minimum education level needed to understand the message. The 10 video clips that were most closely matched on these variables were then rated by the PI and two colleagues with a slightly modified version of a questionnaire developed by Hoffman & Justicz (2016;Appendix B). This questionnaire allows for a sensationalism rating and a scientific rating to be calculated for each clip.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These videos were rated by the first author and an independent rater on several variables, such as production quality, believability, and primary topic. Ten video clips that were most closely matched on the attributes described above were then rated by the first author and two colleagues using a slightly modified version of a questionnaire developed by Hoffman and Justicz (2016). This questionnaire was used for quantifying the sensationalized and scientific qualities of each clip.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Media Sensationalization on Cognitive Performance and Post Concussive Symptoms

Bussell

Gavett

2018

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

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Objectives: The current study aimed to examine if televised media about mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) framed in a sensationalized manner had a negative impact on cognitive functioning and persistent mTBI symptoms. Methods: One hundred two participants (MAge=37.16; SD=22.61) with a history of post-acute mTBI, recruited through a community research registry and an undergraduate recruitment system, were included in this study. Participants were assessed with a measure of health literacy, the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA), and randomized to watch either a sensationalized or non-sensationalized news clip focused on mTBI. They were then assessed with the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ), Patient Reported Outcome Measures Information System (PROMIS) Depression scale, and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (PCL-5). Results: Bayesian analyses indicated that sensationalized media—alone (βPASAT=−0.08; βRPQ=−0.08) or in the context of covariates (βPASAT=−0.11; βRPQ=−0.14)—was not a strong predictor of PASAT score or post-concussion syndrome symptom severity. Conclusions: Although media sensationalization of mTBI symptoms is not desirable, this study suggests that one brief exposure to sensationalized information may not have a meaningful immediate impact on the cognitive functioning or symptom reporting of individuals with a history of mTBI. Future research should examine long-term and downstream effects of sensationalized media reporting in samples with greater diversity of TBI history. (JINS, 2019, 25, 90–100)

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“… 20 Some of the lessons from these early works have been that information seeking behaviours wax and wane as new information becomes available and satisfies gaps in knowledge. 11–13 In some situation, especially in endemic settings, there may be an equilibrium between information seeking and case numbers, which is useful for predicting the pressure on frontline services or in countries with limited surveillance capability. 7 8 10 14 15 In this study, we look at information seeking behaviours among users of a UK national travel health website during the 2015–2016 ZIKV outbreak and compare this with time trends in concurrent internet searches and output from news media rooms.…”

Section: Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early detection of perceived risk among users of a UK travel health website compared with internet search activity and media coverage during the 2015–2016 Zika virus outbreak: an observational study

et al. 2017

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ObjectivesThe Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak in the Americas in 2015–2016 posed a novel global threat due to the association with congenital malformations and its rapid spread. Timely information about the spread of the disease was paramount to public health bodies issuing travel advisories. This paper looks at the online interaction with a national travel health website during the outbreak and compares this to trends in internet searches and news media output.MethodsTime trends were created for weekly views of ZIKV-related pages on a UK travel health website, relative search volumes for ‘Zika’ on Google UK, ZIKV-related items aggregated by Google UK News and rank of ZIKV travel advisories among all other pages between 15 November 2015 and 20 August 2016.ResultsTime trends in traffic to the travel health website corresponded with Google searches, but less so with media items due to intense coverage of the Rio Olympics. Travel advisories for pregnant women were issued from 7 December 2015 and began to increase in popularity (rank) from early January 2016, weeks before a surge in interest as measured by Google searches/news items at the end of January 2016.ConclusionsThe study showed an amplification of perceived risk among users of a national travel health website weeks before the initial surge in public interest. This suggests a potential value for tools to detect changes in online information seeking behaviours for predicting periods of high demand where the routine capability of travel health services could be exceeded.

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Automatically quantifying the scientific quality and sensationalism of news records mentioning pandemics: validating a maximum entropy machine-learning model

Abstract: Automated methods can evaluate news records faster, cheaper, and possibly better than humans. The specific procedure implemented in this study can at the very least identify subsets of news records that are far more likely to have particular scientific and discursive qualities.

Cited by 25 publications

References 30 publications

Delays in Global Disease Outbreak Responses: Lessons from H1N1, Ebola, and Zika

Delays in Global Disease Outbreak Responses: Lessons from H1N1, Ebola, and Zika

Effects of Media Sensationalization on Cognitive Performance and Post Concussive Symptoms

Early detection of perceived risk among users of a UK travel health website compared with internet search activity and media coverage during the 2015–2016 Zika virus outbreak: an observational study

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