Local Television News Coverage of the Affordable Care Act: Emphasizing Politics Over Consumer Information.
Am J Public Health
; 107(5): 687-693, 2017 05.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28207336
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To examine the public health and policy-relevant messages conveyed through local television news during the first stage of Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation, when about 10 million Americans gained insurance.METHODS:
We conducted a content analysis of 1569 ACA-related local evening television news stories, obtained from sampling local news aired between October 1, 2013, and April 19, 2014. Coders systematically collected data using a coding instrument tracking major messages and information sources cited in the news.RESULTS:
Overall, only half of all ACA-related news coverage focused on health insurance products, whereas the remainder discussed political disagreements over the law. Major policy tools of the ACA-the Medicaid expansion and subsidies available-were cited in less than 10% of news stories. Number of enrollees (27%) and Web site glitches (33%) were more common features of coverage. Sources with a political affiliation were by far the most common source of information (> 40%), whereas research was cited in less than 4% of stories.CONCLUSIONS:
The most common source of news for Americans provided little public health-relevant substance about the ACA during its early implementation, favoring political strategy in coverage.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Politics
/
Television
/
Information Dissemination
/
Consumer Health Information
/
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Am J Public Health
Year:
2017
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italy