Altmetric coverage of health research in Ireland 2017-2023: a protocol for a cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Scientific publications have been growing exponentially, contributing to an oversaturated information environment. Quantifying a research output's impact and reach cannot be solely measured by traditional metrics like citation counts as these have a lag time and are largely focused on an academic audience. There is increasing recognition to consider 'alternative metrics' or altmetrics to measure more immediate and broader impacts of research. Better understanding of altmetrics can help researchers better navigate evolving information environments and changing appetites for different types of research. Objectives: Our study aims to: 1) analyse the amount and medium of Altmetric coverage of health research produced by Irish organisations (2017 - 2023), identifying changes over time and 2) investigate differences in the amount of coverage between clinical areas (e.g., nutrition vs. neurology). Methods: Using Altmetric institutional access, we will gather data on research outputs published 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2023 from active Irish organisations with Research Organisation Registry (ROR) IDs. Outputs will be deduplicated and stratified by their Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification relating to ≥1 field of health research: Biological Sciences, Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Health Sciences, and Psychology. We will clean data using R and perform descriptive analyses, establishing counts and frequencies of coverage by clinical area and medium (e.g., traditional news, X, etc.); data will be plotted on a yearly and quarterly basis where appropriate. Results and Conclusions: Improved understanding of one's information environment can help researchers better navigate their local landscapes and identify pathways for more effective communication to the public. All R code will be made available open-source, allowing researchers to adapt it to evaluate their local landscapes.

'Broken souls' vs. 'mad ax man' - changes in the portrayal of depression and schizophrenia in the German media over 10 years.

AIMS: Population studies show the stigma of depression to diminish, while the stigma of schizophrenia increases. To find out whether this widening gap is reflected in the media portrayal of both disorders, this study compares the portrayal of depression and schizophrenia in German print media in 2010 vs. 2020. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative content analysis using a mixed deductive-inductive approach to establish a category system. In total, we analyzed 854 articles with the summative approach by Mayring. RESULTS: The study found a widening gap in the portrayal of schizophrenia and depression in German media between 2010 and 2020. Schizophrenia was depicted increasingly negative between 2010 and 2020, covering more negative stereotypes and focusing on its biological causes. Depression received increased attention and more neutral and professional coverage, with a greater emphasis on psychosocial causes and discussion of treatment options. CONCLUSIONS: By showing a widening gap the study highlights how media may shape public views on mental illnesses and reflects public attitudes at the same time. Media analyses from other nations have shown similar trends. This emphasizes the need for responsible reporting to combat stigma and promote understanding worldwide. Therefore, the authors recommend a balanced coverage that includes accurate professional information about all mental illnesses.

How to drive heavily polluting companies to fulfill environmental responsibility? The synergy between environmental regulation and digital media coverage.

This paper addresses the question of how environmental regulation and digital media coverage, as formal and informal external monitoring mechanisms, affect corporate environmental responsibility fulfillment. Using the data of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies in China's heavily polluting industries, this study showed that both environmental regulation and digital media coverage significantly improve responsive and strategic environmental responsibility fulfillment. After distinguishing the media tone, it was found that positive digital media coverage promotes the fulfillment of both responsive and strategic environmental responsibilities. In contrast, negative digital media coverage only stimulates the fulfillment of responsive environmental responsibility, which reflected an asymmetrical effect of media tone. Further, the hierarchy of governance amplifies the role of environmental regulation in triggering the fulfillment of responsive environmental responsibility but weakens its value to strategic environmental responsibility. Inconsistent with our predictions, the relationship between digital media coverage and corporate environmental responsibility fulfillment could not be significantly moderated by Confucian culture. In addition, environmental regulation and digital media coverage only existed in companies with separate chairperson and manager positions, which indicated that an excellent internal governance environment is a prerequisite for external monitoring mechanisms to play a role in environmental governance. This study enriches the literature on how to drive responsive and strategic environmental responsibility by uncovering an external governance effect of environmental regulation and digital media coverage on the fulfillment of corporate environmental responsibility, and provides inspiration for multiple environmental governance actors to promote the construction of ecological civilization collaboratively.

United States newspaper and online media coverage of artificial intelligence and radiology from 1998 to 2023.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency and content of media coverage pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI) and radiology in the United States from 1998 to 2023. METHODS: The ProQuest US Newsstream database was queried for print and online articles mentioning AI and radiology published between January 1, 1998, and March 30, 2023. A Boolean search using terms related to radiology and AI was used to retrieve full text and publication information. One of 9 readers with radiology expertise independently reviewed randomly assigned articles using a standardized scoring system. RESULTS: 379 articles met inclusion criteria, of which 290 were unique and 89 were syndicated articles. Most had a positive sentiment (74 %) towards AI, while negative sentiment was far less common (9 %). Frequency of positive sentiment was highest in articles with a focus on AI and radiology (86 %) and lowest in articles focusing on AI and non-medical topics (55 %). The net impact of AI on radiology was most commonly presented as positive (60 %). Benefits of AI were more frequently mentioned (76 %) than potential harms (46 %). Radiologists were interviewed or quoted in less than one-third of all articles. CONCLUSION: Portrayal of the impact of AI on radiology in US media coverage was mostly positive, and advantages of AI were more frequently discussed than potential risks. However, articles with a general non-medical focus were more likely to have a negative sentiment regarding the impact of AI on radiology than articles with a more specific focus on medicine and radiology. Radiologists were infrequently interviewed or quoted in media coverage.

Mediating effect of depression and acute stress between exposure to Israel-Gaza war media coverage and insomnia: a multinational study from five arab countries.

BACKGROUND: In the context of persistent wars and conflicts worldwide, the impact of acute, excessive and constant exposure to media coverage of such events on mental health outcomes becomes a serious problem for public health, and requires therefore urgent investigation to inform an effective prevention and management response. The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that war-related media exposure is directly and indirectly associated with insomnia through depression and perceived stress among adults from the general population of different Arab countries. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried-out two weeks after the beginning of Israel-Gaza war on the 7th of October 2023. An anonymous online survey and a snowball sampling method were adopted to collect data. A sample of 2635 general population adults (mean age of 23.98 ± 7.55 years, 73.1% females) took part of this study. RESULTS: The results of the mediation analysis showed that, after adjusting over potential confounders, depression and perceived stress fully mediated the association between war media exposure and insomnia; higher war media exposure was significantly associated with higher depression (Beta = 0.13; p < .001) and perceived stress (Beta = 0.07; p < .001), whereas higher depression (Beta = 0.43; p < .001) and perceived stress (Beta = 0.31; p < .001) were significantly associated with higher insomnia. It is of note that war media exposure was not significantly and directly associated with insomnia (Beta = - 0.01; p = .178 and Beta = 0.02; p = .098 respectively). CONCLUSION: The present study is the first to provide evidence that more time spent viewing the horrors of war is significantly associated with insomnia. In addition, symptoms of stress and depression were present as early as two weeks following the beginning of the war, and played a significant role in mediating the association between war media coverage and insomnia. These findings suggest that timely screening for, and management of depression and stress symptoms in clinical and preventive programs might be beneficial for community adults who have been heavily and indirectly exposed to war through media, and present with insomnia.

Analysis of a COVID-19 model with media coverage and limited resources.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly impacted the global economy and human health. The paper mainly proposed an improved susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered (SEIR) epidemic model with media coverage and limited medical resources to investigate the spread of COVID-19. We proved the positivity and boundedness of the solution. The existence and local asymptotically stability of equilibria were studied and a sufficient criterion was established for backward bifurcation. Further, we applied the proposed model to study the trend of COVID-19 in Shanghai, China, from March to April 2022. The results showed sensitivity analysis, bifurcation, and the effects of critical parameters in the COVID-19 model.

The evolution of media reportage on GMOs in Ghana following approval of first GM crop.

Ghana's parliament in 2011 passed the Biosafety Act to allow for the application of genetically modified organism (GMO) technology in the country's agriculture. In a vibrant democracy, there have been extensive media discussions on whether GM crops will benefit or harm citizens. In June 2022, the state GMO regulator, the National Biosafety Authority (NBA), approved the country's first GM crop (Bt cowpea) for environmental release, declaring the crop does not present an altered environmental risk or a food/feed safety concern. This study identified 3 of the country's most vibrant digital news outlets and did a content analysis of all GMO stories reported 18 months pre- and post-approval to assess whether the approval changed the focus of GMO issues the media reports on. 91 articles were identified. The results show media reports on the likely impact of GMOs on the country's food security shot up after the approval. However, media reports on the possible health, sociocultural, and environmental impact of GMOs declined. We observe the media and the public appear interested in deliberations on how the technology could address or worsen food insecurity and urge agricultural biotechnology actors in Ghana to focus on that in their sensitization activities.

Exploring Australian News Media Portrayals of Sustainable and Plant-Based Diets.

(1) Background: Dietary behaviour transformation is imperative for the attainment of more sustainable food systems, including an increased intake of plant-based foods and lower consumption of red meat and highly processed foods. The influence of news media coverage on public opinion regarding dietary behaviours is significant. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how sustainable/plant-based diets have been portrayed in Australian news media. (2) Methods: The Factiva global news database was used to search news articles published in Australia between 2018 and 2020. Relevant news articles were selected if they included keywords relating to sustainable diets, plant-based diets, and meat alternatives. We used a coding protocol to extract key information, such as date of publication, article topic, and any health, environmental and economic impacts. Then, we performed a framing and thematic analysis of the data. (3) Results: From 357 included articles, more than half of the articles encouraged increasing the intake of plant-based foods (53.5%) and reducing animal-derived food intake (55.2%). Several reasons for such shift from animal protein centric Australian diets were identified throughout the articles such as health benefits (15.4%), environmental impacts (11.2%), animal welfare (4.8%), seasonality and local food intake (5.3%), avoiding overconsumption (4.5%) and food wastage (4.5%). (4) Conclusions: The predominant frame in Australian news coverage about sustainable diets has been about consumption, more plant- and less animal-based products, with little nuance about the complex interplay of diet quality and environment in influencing food choices. Australian news media should broaden its coverage of sustainable diets to include health, environmental, and economic factors to improve public understanding and facilitate informed and sustainable food choices. Further research is needed to enhance comprehension of how the audience perceives media coverage on this topic, which will provide a more thorough understanding.

Paying for ads or getting into the news? How parties persuade citizens of their issue competence during an election campaign.

During campaigns, parties must defend their reputation of competence on issues to persuade citizens to vote for them (issue ownership). Consequently, what are the most effective strategies to achieve this? I argue that direct (advertising) and indirect (media coverage) communication strategies have different effects on citizens' perception of party competence. To analyze the impact of campaign dynamics on citizens, I use three data sources: an individual rolling cross-section panel, a media coverage analysis, and a parties' advertisements analysis. I link those data on a daily basis to capture the dynamics of parties' communication and citizens' opinion. The results show that advertisements help parties to win and maintain their issue ownership, while media coverage only helps parties to maintain their ownership. The study has scientific and practical implications with regard to party strategy, campaigns, and citizens' perceptions of parties.

The perception of dramatic risks: Biased media, but unbiased minds.

In their famous study on risk judgments, Lichtenstein, Slovic, Fischhoff, Layman, and Combs (1978) concluded that people tend to overestimate the frequencies of dramatic causes of death (e.g., homicide, tornado) and underestimate the frequencies of nondramatic ones (e.g., diabetes, heart disease). Further, their analyses of newspapers indicated that dramatic risks are overrepresented in the media-suggesting that people's distorted risk perceptions might be driven by distortions in media coverage. Although these patterns were not evaluated statistically in the original analyses, the conclusions have become a staple in the social sciences. How reliable are they? And are they replicable? In a systematic literature search, I identified existing replications of Lichtenstein et al.'s investigation and submitted both the original data and the data from the replications to a Bayesian statistical analysis. All datasets indicated very strong evidence for an overrepresentation of dramatic risks and an underrepresentation of nondramatic risks in media coverage. However, a reliable overestimation (underestimation) of dramatic (nondramatic) risks in people's frequency judgments emerged only in Lichtenstein et al.'s dataset; it did not replicate in the other datasets. In fact, aggregated across all datasets, there was evidence for the absence of a differential distortion of dramatic and nondramatic causes of death in people's risk frequency judgments. Additional analyses suggest that when judging risk frequency, people rely on samples from their personal social networks rather than from the media. The results reveal a limited empirical basis for the common notion that distortions in people's risk judgments echo distortions in media coverage. They also suggest that processes of risk frequency judgments include a metacognitive mechanism that is sensitive to the source of mentally available samples.

Misperceptions and management of LDL-cholesterol in secondary prevention of patients with familial hypercholesterolemia in cardiology practice: Real-life evidence from the EPHESUS registry.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a common inherited disease, leading to premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) due to elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. Achieving LDL-C goals is extremely important for preventing the complications of this fatal disease. We evaluated the management of FH patients with ASCVD in cardiology practice. METHODS: We analyzed patients with ASCVD from the nationwide EPHESUS registry, which was conducted in 40 cardiology outpatient clinics, and compared those with and without FH. RESULTS: Of the 1482 consecutively enrolled patients with ASCVD, 618 (41.7%) had FH, among which 455 were categorized as 'Possible FH' and 163 as 'Probable or Definite FH'. Proposed LDL-C goals were not attained in more than 90% of the patients with FH. The proportion of those on statin therapy was 77% for possible and 91% for probable or definite FH, whereas 34.2 % and 59.4% were in use of high-intensity statins, respectively. None of the patients were on PCSK-9 inhibitors, and only 2 used ezetimibe. Adverse media coverage was the most common cause of statin discontinuation (32.5% in 'possible FH' and 45.7% in 'probable/definite FH'). The negative impact of media in the decision to stop lipid lowering therapy (LLT) was increasing with education level. CONCLUSIONS: In real life most of the FH patients with ASCVD are undertreated in cardiology practice regarding statin dosing and combined LLT. Drug discontinuation rates are notably high and are mostly media-related, and side effects very rarely cause cessation of LLT. Urgent measures are needed to increase the awareness of FH among healthcare providers and patients and to develop improved treatment strategies aimed at preventing the complications of FH.

Global Hopf bifurcation of a cholera model with media coverage.

We propose a model for cholera under the impact of delayed mass media, including human-to-human and environment-to-human transmission routes. First, we establish the extinction and uniform persistence of the disease with respect to the basic reproduction number. Then, we conduct a local and global Hopf bifurcation analysis by treating the delay as a bifurcation parameter. Finally, we carry out numerical simulations to demonstrate theoretical results. The impact of the media with the time delay is found to not influence the threshold dynamics of the model, but is a factor that induces periodic oscillations of the disease.

Medical Doctors' Perceptions of the Media Coverage during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study in Stockholm.

The strain on healthcare systems including emergency departments increased substantially during the Covid-19 pandemic,negatively affecting healthcare workers and their well-being. The emotional distress experienced by healthcare staff during the pandemic was worsened by confusion and conspiracy theories that circulated in the news and online media. Reports on the pandemic and general consumption of media intensified as the public's demand for information increased. There is limited research on how doctors perceived media coverage, and how they were affected in their work. This study aimed to explore how medical doctors in emergency departments perceived the media coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic. Twelve doctors at two different emergency departments in Stockholm, Sweden, participated. Interview questions on media were asked as part of a more extensive questionnaire. Informants' responses were analysed qualitatively. The results indicate that doctors to some extent used media as a source of information, due to limited access to knowledge about the virus. Results further suggest that media coverage triggered fear of infection, caused worry and job strain. The doctors percieved that the media coverage on Covid-19 affected patient-seeking behaviour as well as the doctor-patient relationship. The findings can be relevant in preparation for future pandemics and considered in development of policy for media and emergency departments.

Role of media coverage in a SVEIR-I epidemic model with nonlinear incidence and spatial heterogeneous environment.

In this paper, we propose a SVEIR-I epidemic model with media coverage in a spatially heterogeneous environment, and study the role of media coverage in the spread of diseases in a spatially heterogeneous environment. In a spatially heterogeneous environment, we first set up the well-posedness of the model. Then, we define the basic reproduction number $ R_0 $ of the model and establish the global dynamic threshold criteria: when $ R_0 < 1 $, disease-free steady state is globally asymptotically stable, while when $ R_0 > 1 $, the model is uniformly persistent. In addition, the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium state of endemic diseases were obtained when $ R_0 > 1 $ in homogeneous space and heterogeneous diffusion environment. Further, by constructing appropriate Lyapunov functions, the global asymptotic stability of disease-free and positive steady states was established. Finally, through numerical simulations, it is shown that spatial heterogeneity can increase the risk of disease transmission, and can even change the threshold for disease transmission; media coverage can make people more widely understand disease information, and then reduce the effective contact rate to control the spread of disease.

Do media coverage of suicides and search frequency on suicides predict the number of tweets seeking others for a suicide pact?

We examined whether media coverage of suicides and frequencies of searching for suicide methods or suicide pacts predicted the number of users posting tweets seeking others for a suicide pact. Analyses of 6,119 tweets containing "suicide pact" posted on Twitter during a 6-month period revealed that the number of users posting tweets seeking others for a suicide pact had a positive association with media coverage of celebrity suicides, but not with that of suicide pact victims, and a greater positive association with the search frequency for suicide methods than for suicide pacts. We found that the search frequency on suicide methods was positively associated with media coverage of celebrity suicides, while that on suicide pacts was more strongly related to media coverage of suicide pacts.

Too stressed to sleep? Downsizing, job insecurity and sleep behavior.

While workforce downsizing can benefit firms by increasing efficiency, it also leads to a deterioration of worker job security. This study uses German survey data to investigate the impact of downsizing on quality and quantity of sleep. While the topic is largely unexplored, it is of central importance, as sleep is not only the most time-consuming activity in the life of individuals, but also highly essential for productivity, health, and life itself. To address potential endogeneity, the study employs three measures of downsizing: Workforce reduction at the firm level, dismissal rate at the industry level, and nationwide news of downsizing. The results show that all three measures of downsizing lead to poor sleep. The study further investigates the role of job insecurity as a potential mechanism. Instrumental variable estimates indicate that perceived job insecurity strongly increases the probability of insufficient sleep.

Voting by mouth: media attention and environmental governance.

External regulation is crucial for environmental protection. This study investigates the impact of media attention on corporate environmental governance from 2011 to 2021, using China's public companies as our samples. The empirical results indicate that media attention consistently and significantly enhances corporate environmental governance. This effect remains robust across endogeneity considerations and alternative tests. Additionally, in regions with higher marketization and stronger rule of law frameworks, the efficacy of media attention in improving corporate environmental performance becomes remarkably pronounced. Further analysis unveils that media attention positively impacts environmental governance by elevating public awareness, refining internal management efficiency, and fostering innovative strategies for minimizing environmental impact. These results offer empirical backing for the reinforcement of external oversight and corporate governance practices.

Examining the quality of news media reporting of complex mental illness in relation to violent crime in Australia.

PURPOSE: News reporting on mental illness can perpetuate stigma. An understanding of the current picture of such reporting is important to identify areas for improvement. This study investigated the quality of Australian news media coverage of complex mental illness in the context of crime and violence over a 2-year period, prior to the release of new media guidelines. METHODS: This research utilised a systematic search of Australian news articles that were published between July 2018 and July 2020 and reported on mental illness in relation to violent crime. Researchers developed a Mental Illness and Crime Reporting Quality Framework to determine quality scores for news articles according to 11 relevant factors in media guidelines. An additional 11 characteristics of articles were extracted for further descriptive analysis. RESULTS: One-hundred and twenty-eight Australian news articles met inclusion criteria. The average quality score was 50 (SD = 13.91) out of a possible maximum score of 100 (range 11-78). Strengths and weaknesses were identified as some criteria were consistently met, and other criteria were met rarely or not at all. There were emerging trends between quality scores and article characteristics, including publication source, though these analyses were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that Australian news coverage of complex mental illness and violent crime met half of the criteria of reporting guidelines that minimises risk of perpetuating or reinforcing stigma. This demonstrates significant opportunity to improve the overall quality of media reporting on crime and mental illness. Future research should evaluate the impact of the guidelines on the quality of news reporting after their implementation by utilising a similar methodology, using these findings as a baseline measure.

Modeling COVID-19 transmission dynamics incorporating media coverage and vaccination.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread concern around the world. In order to study the impact of media coverage and vaccination on the spread of COVID-19, we establish an SVEAIQR infectious disease model, and fit the important parameters such as transmission rate, isolation rate and vaccine efficiency based on the data from Shanghai Municipal Health Commission and the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China. Meanwhile, the control reproduction number and the final size are derived. Moreover, through sensitivity analysis by PRCC (partial rank correlation coefficient), we discuss the effects of both the behavior change constant $ k $ according to media coverage and the vaccine efficiency $ \varepsilon $ on the transmission of COVID-19. Numerical explorations of the model suggest that during the outbreak of the epidemic, media coverage can reduce the final size by about 0.26 times. Besides that, comparing with $ 50\% $ vaccine efficiency, when the vaccine efficiency reaches $ 90\% $, the peak value of infected people decreases by about 0.07 times. In addition, we simulate the impact of media coverage on the number of infected people in the case of vaccination or non-vaccination. Accordingly, the management departments should pay attention to the impact of vaccination and media coverage.