Assessing the Dissemination of Federal Risk Communication by News Media Outlets During Enteric Illness Outbreaks: Canadian Content Analysis
Abstract BackgroundEffective dissemination of federal risk communication by news media during multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks can increase message reach to rapidly contain outbreaks, limit adverse outcomes, and promote informed decision-making by the public. Howe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2025-04-01
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| Series: | JMIR Public Health and Surveillance |
| Online Access: | https://publichealth.jmir.org/2025/1/e68724 |
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| author | Hisba Shereefdeen Lauren Elizabeth Grant Vayshali Patel Melissa MacKay Andrew Papadopoulos Leslie Cheng Melissa Phypers Jennifer Elizabeth McWhirter |
| author_facet | Hisba Shereefdeen Lauren Elizabeth Grant Vayshali Patel Melissa MacKay Andrew Papadopoulos Leslie Cheng Melissa Phypers Jennifer Elizabeth McWhirter |
| author_sort | Hisba Shereefdeen |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Abstract
BackgroundEffective dissemination of federal risk communication by news media during multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks can increase message reach to rapidly contain outbreaks, limit adverse outcomes, and promote informed decision-making by the public. However, dissemination of risk communication from the federal government by mass media has not been evaluated.
ObjectiveThis study aimed to describe and assess the dissemination of federal risk communication by news media outlets during multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks in Canada.
MethodsA comprehensive systematic search of 2 databases, Canadian Newsstream and Canadian Business & Current Affairs, was run using search terms related to the source of enteric illnesses, general outbreak characteristics, and relevant enteric pathogen names to retrieve news media articles issued between 2014 and 2023, corresponding to 46 public health notices (PHNs) communicating information about multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks during the same period. A codebook comprised of 3 sections—general characteristics of the article, consistency and accuracy of information presented between PHNs and news media articles, and presence of health belief model constructs—was developed and applied to the dataset. Data were tabulated and visualized using RStudio (Posit).
ResultsNews media communicated about almost all PHNs (44/46, 96%). News media commonly developed their own articles (320/528, 60.6%) to notify the public about an outbreak and its associated product recall (121/320, 37.8%), but rarely communicated about the conclusion of an outbreak (12/320, 3.8%). News media communicated most outbreak characteristics, such as the number of cases (237/319, 74.3%), but the number of deaths was communicated less than half the time (114/260, 43.8%). Benefit and barrier constructs of the health belief model were infrequently present (50/243, 20.6% and 15/243, 6.2%, respectively).
ConclusionsCanadian news media disseminated information about most multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks. However, differences in coverage of multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks by news media were evident. Federal organizations can improve future risk communication of multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks by news media by maintaining and strengthening interorganizational connections and ensuring the information quality of PHNs as a key information source for news media. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-18cea2f99624463996231b484bb9344a |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2369-2960 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Public Health and Surveillance |
| spelling | doaj-art-18cea2f99624463996231b484bb9344a2025-08-20T03:18:06ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Public Health and Surveillance2369-29602025-04-0111e68724e6872410.2196/68724Assessing the Dissemination of Federal Risk Communication by News Media Outlets During Enteric Illness Outbreaks: Canadian Content AnalysisHisba Shereefdeenhttp://orcid.org/0009-0001-0938-6902Lauren Elizabeth Granthttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-6549-0205Vayshali Patelhttp://orcid.org/0009-0009-1833-7537Melissa MacKayhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-6682-1528Andrew Papadopouloshttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-2339-1951Leslie Chenghttp://orcid.org/0009-0005-1348-8628Melissa Phypershttp://orcid.org/0009-0006-9499-7922Jennifer Elizabeth McWhirterhttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-3924-4873 Abstract BackgroundEffective dissemination of federal risk communication by news media during multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks can increase message reach to rapidly contain outbreaks, limit adverse outcomes, and promote informed decision-making by the public. However, dissemination of risk communication from the federal government by mass media has not been evaluated. ObjectiveThis study aimed to describe and assess the dissemination of federal risk communication by news media outlets during multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks in Canada. MethodsA comprehensive systematic search of 2 databases, Canadian Newsstream and Canadian Business & Current Affairs, was run using search terms related to the source of enteric illnesses, general outbreak characteristics, and relevant enteric pathogen names to retrieve news media articles issued between 2014 and 2023, corresponding to 46 public health notices (PHNs) communicating information about multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks during the same period. A codebook comprised of 3 sections—general characteristics of the article, consistency and accuracy of information presented between PHNs and news media articles, and presence of health belief model constructs—was developed and applied to the dataset. Data were tabulated and visualized using RStudio (Posit). ResultsNews media communicated about almost all PHNs (44/46, 96%). News media commonly developed their own articles (320/528, 60.6%) to notify the public about an outbreak and its associated product recall (121/320, 37.8%), but rarely communicated about the conclusion of an outbreak (12/320, 3.8%). News media communicated most outbreak characteristics, such as the number of cases (237/319, 74.3%), but the number of deaths was communicated less than half the time (114/260, 43.8%). Benefit and barrier constructs of the health belief model were infrequently present (50/243, 20.6% and 15/243, 6.2%, respectively). ConclusionsCanadian news media disseminated information about most multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks. However, differences in coverage of multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks by news media were evident. Federal organizations can improve future risk communication of multijurisdictional enteric illness outbreaks by news media by maintaining and strengthening interorganizational connections and ensuring the information quality of PHNs as a key information source for news media.https://publichealth.jmir.org/2025/1/e68724 |
| spellingShingle | Hisba Shereefdeen Lauren Elizabeth Grant Vayshali Patel Melissa MacKay Andrew Papadopoulos Leslie Cheng Melissa Phypers Jennifer Elizabeth McWhirter Assessing the Dissemination of Federal Risk Communication by News Media Outlets During Enteric Illness Outbreaks: Canadian Content Analysis JMIR Public Health and Surveillance |
| title | Assessing the Dissemination of Federal Risk Communication by News Media Outlets During Enteric Illness Outbreaks: Canadian Content Analysis |
| title_full | Assessing the Dissemination of Federal Risk Communication by News Media Outlets During Enteric Illness Outbreaks: Canadian Content Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Assessing the Dissemination of Federal Risk Communication by News Media Outlets During Enteric Illness Outbreaks: Canadian Content Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing the Dissemination of Federal Risk Communication by News Media Outlets During Enteric Illness Outbreaks: Canadian Content Analysis |
| title_short | Assessing the Dissemination of Federal Risk Communication by News Media Outlets During Enteric Illness Outbreaks: Canadian Content Analysis |
| title_sort | assessing the dissemination of federal risk communication by news media outlets during enteric illness outbreaks canadian content analysis |
| url | https://publichealth.jmir.org/2025/1/e68724 |
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