Chapter 7 Mass Media
Chapter Overview
Key Issues and Learning Outcomes
Key issues within this chapter:- Mass media can have positive and negative effects on health.
- Mass media operate at international, national and local/community level.
- Mass media can influence health through advertising of commercial products, coverage of news topics, portrayal of role models, health promotion campaigns and social marketing.
- understand the contribution of mass media to health promotion at community, national and international level.
- identify ways of maximizing the beneficial and minimizing the harmful impacts of mass media.
- understand the steps involved in planning mass media.
- mobilize mass media operating at the local/community level
Test your Knowledge
Having read the chapter can you now answer the following questions?
- List five types of mass media and consider how each could be utilized in health promotion
- Identify a health item that has been in the news during the last week, and make notes on how the issue was portrayed.
- ‘In mass media, the influence of a particular role model can be positive or negative.’ Discuss this statement using specific examples.
- What is the role of ‘social marketing’ in health promotion?
- Identify the different components of the ‘six stage model of communication’ giving an example of success at each stage.
- How effective do you think fear is as an appeal used in health promotion?
- How effective is mass media for health promotion?
Internet links
General
For a thoughtful critique of social marketing approaches to health promotion see the review paper by the audience dialogue group at: http://www.audiencedialogue.net/socmark.html
How to start a mass media campaign UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/french/righttoknow/index_mediacampaign.html
Johns Hopkins Population Communication Centre act as a focal point for the entertainment –education movement
http://www.jhuccp.org
The Communication Initiative acts as a portal to a wide range of partner institutions involved in using mass media for health promotion including the BBC World Service Trust, Soul City project in South Africa.
http://www.comminit.com
The Community Media website is devoted to providing information about community media in the UK with details of local community media stations. http://www.commedia.org.uk/
For more information on the British Medical Association’s position on body image, young people and the media, see:
http://www.studentbmj.com/issues/00/07/news/225a.php
Frameworks. For a discussion of how media creates frameworks through which we see the world around us:
http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/
For a series of PowerPoint presentations on the influence of mass media tobacco advertising on smoking in the developed and developing countries see this site for the Journal Tobacco Control.
http://tc.bmj.com/misc/powerpoint.dtl
Journal articles and reviews
‘Eating disorders and the media.’ by Deanne Jade, National Centre For Eating Disorders 2002 http://www.eating-disorders.org.uk/docs/media.doc
Furnham, A., Ingle, H., Gunter, B., McClelland, A. (1997). ‘A content analysis of alcohol portrayal and drinking in British television soap operas.’ Health Education Research, 12, 519-529. http://her.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/12/4/519
Grey, A., Owen, L., Bowling, K., Ryan, H., McVey, D. (2000). ‘A Breath of Fresh Air: Tackling Smoking through the Media.’ London: Health Development Agency. http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=501903
Hastings, G.B., Haywood, A.J. (1994). ‘Social marketing: A critical response.’ Health Promotion International, 9, 59-63.
http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/9/1/59.pdf
Hastings, G., MacFadyen, L. (2002). ‘Controversies in tobacco control: the limitations of fear messages.’ Tobacco Control, 11, 73-75. http://tc.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/11/1/73?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&author1=Hastings&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT,HWELTR
‘The effectiveness of public health campaigns.’ London: Health Development Agency, 2004.
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502775
Hill, D., Chapman, S., Donovan, R. (1998). ‘The return of scare tactics.’ Tobacco Control 7, 5-8. http://tc.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/7/1/5
Howe, A., Owen-Smith, V., Richardson, J. (2002). ‘The impact of a television soap opera on the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in the North West of England.’ Journal of Public Health Medicine, 24, 299-304. http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/24/4/299
Leidig, M. (2006). ‘Becker promotes condom use in Germany.’ British Medical Journal, 332, 812-81b. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/332/7545/812-b
Lynch, B.M. and Dunn, J. (2003). ‘Scoreboard advertising at sporting events as a health promotion medium.’ Health Education Research, 18, 488-492.
http://her.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/18/4/488
Voracek, M. and Fisher, M. L. (2002). ‘Shapely centrefolds? Temporal change in body measures: trend analysis.’ British Medical Journal, 325, 1447-1448. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/325/7378/1447?ijkey=a229d2a350603ba2793a62b9492154b3db8f2e5f see also critique of this paper at http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7393/823?etoc
French, J. (2004). ‘Components of successful media campaigns.’ London: Health Development Agency. http://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/whoweare/aboutthehda/hdapublications/hda_publications.jsp?o=591
