Relative risk in the news media: a quantification of misrepresentation.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study quantifies the representativeness with which the print news media depict mortality. METHODS: The proportion of mortality-related copy in samples of national print media was compared with the proportion of actual deaths attributable to the leading causes of US mortality over a 1-year period. RESULTS: For every tested cause of death, a significant disproportion was found between amount of text devoted to the cause and the actual number of attributable deaths. Underrepresented causes included tobacco use (23% of expected copy) and heart disease (33%); overrepresented causes included illicit use of drugs (1740%), motor vehicles (1280%), and toxic agents (1070%). CONCLUSIONS: The news media significantly misrepresent the prevalence of leading causes of death and their risk factors. This misrepresentation may contribute to the public's distorted perceptions of health threats.

Official reporting and newspaper coverage of road crashes: A case study

“…One aspect of this health awareness relates to the perceived reasons of mortality. Frost et al (1997) suggest that mass media are creating a biased perception of different causes of death. The number of reported crashes and the way of reporting are likely to be influential to the perception of the risk of certain behaviors.…”

Do Healthy People Worry? Modern Health Worries, Subjective Health Complaints, Perceived Health, and Health Care Utilization

“…Specifically, modern health concerns may drive the perception of routine daily symptoms as physiological consequences of environmental factors. Furthermore, this has been suggested as being exacerbated by the media's overemphasis of high-risk and disease-related stories [12,13]. Such focus increases the salience of relatively rare events and can lead to the overestimation of its actual occurrence [14].…”

‘Fat Ethics’ – The Obesity Discourse and Body Politics

“…Well, if, as Frost et al (1997) suggest, people overestimate their risk to various health forms through an 'availability heuristic' because of how this is portrayed in the media, it may create a moral panic that fuels disordered relationships with the body and food.…”