AIDS/HIV Research :: essays research papers

This study used content synopsis to advert dominant AIDS-HIV themes in the manifest news content of AP, Reuters, alpha foetoprotein, ITAR-TASS, and IPS. A organized random sample of AIDS-HIV stories disseminated by the five wire services surrounded by May 1991 and May 1997 (both months include) was obtained. This decade was selected because several empirical studies of coverage in the 1980s have been conducted however, few studies examine the 1990s.The decision to examine the print news media was driven by the nature of the issue being explored. earlier research indicated (Nelkin, 1991 Stroman & Seltzer, 1989) that when it comes to complex and ambiguous issues (e.g., AIDS-HIV), print news provides more in-depth education than interpenetrate news. News consumers tend to consult print news for the details, whereas commit news provides the broad strokes. For instance, the Princeton Survey Research Associates (1996) study of AIDS coverage by the U.S. media found that the prin t media accorded more analytical coverage when compared to broadcast offerings.Full texts of all the stories in the sample were downloaded from the online LEXIS-NEXIS news and information database service.(n7) With a random starting point, every fifth story in the cosmea was selected to obtain a 20% sample. The story was the unit of analysis.The sample comprised a total of 635 stories. Following is the breakdown of these stories according to wire services Reuters = 287, AFP = 155, AP = 78, ITAR-TASS = 34, and IPS = 81 (N = 635).Detailed coding categories were developed. The Princeton Survey Research Associates (1996) content analysis of AIDS-HIV coverage by the U.S. news media guided the formation of some of the categories. The beingness region category was guided by the Mayo and Pasadeos (1991) study of the internationalist focus of U.S. business magazines. Following are the main categories that were used to compute each story. Detailed operational definitions were developed fo r each category. Straightforward categories such as date, length of story, wire, and so forth are not included1. Dateline-world region The choices available were North America ( fall in States and Canada), Central America and the Caribbean, Latin America, Western Europe (including Turkey and Greece), Eastern Europe, Russia and former Soviet republics, China, the lay East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa (including South Africa), developing Asia (mostly South and some atomic number 34 Asia), developed Asia (mostly East and Southeast Asia), Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific Islands), global, the United Nations and other similar global organizations, and other/none.