Who to Blame for Obesity? The Role of Mass Media in Setting up Public Agenda for Blame

• In Event: Public Health Issues and Mass Communication

Abstract

The study tests news media’s role in setting up public agenda for blame on the issue of obesity. One year of AP news articles on the issue of obesity are content analyzed. Six groups often associated with the issue of obesity are coded in terms of their responsibility for causing obesity. The results support the hypothesis that news media are capable of setting up the public blame-agenda on the issue of obesity.

Author

• Yahui Kang, Univ of Pennsylvania