Death makes news: the social impact of disease on newspaper coverage.
This paper is an integrated analysis of newspaper coverage, epidemiological rates, and recent social history of six prominent diseases.


OBJECTIVE
Newspaper coverage of a disease has three developmental stages (emergence, maturation, and decline & death). Trends in newspaper coverage of a disease reflect trends in its mortality, prevalence, and incidence. Magnitudes of newspaper coverage of diseases reflect their differential mortality rates.


METHODS
Using the LEXIS-NEXIS news archive for major U.S. newspapers, we retrieve articles about cancer, heart disease, AIDS, diabetes, Alzheimer disease, and arthritis for the period 1977-1997. We also obtain mortality, prevalence, and incidence trends for the six diseases.


RESULTS
During the two decades, newspaper coverage emerges for AIDS and Alzheimer disease and is in the mature stage for the other diseases; declines begin for heart disease and AIDS. Trends in news coverage closely parallel mortality trends, and less consistently prevalence and incidence trends. Sharp downturns and upturns in mortality are mirrored in news volume. High-mortality diseases prompt both the most news coverage and the largest proportions of articles with death topics.


CONCLUSIONS
Newspaper coverage of diseases is responsive to their mortality levels and trends.
Adelman
R C
RC
Institute of Gerontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-2007, USA. radelman@umich.edu
Verbrugge
L M
LM
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000401:mortality; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000401:mortality; D001168:Arthritis / Q000401:mortality; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000639:trends*; D009026:Mortality; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D009524:Newspapers as Topic; D011634:Public Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011639:Public Opinion