R. Warwick Blood

On-Screen Portrayals of Mental Illness: Extent, Nature, and Impacts

This article reviews the published literature on the extent, nature, and impacts of portrayal of mental illness in fictional films and television programs. The literature suggests that on-screen portrayals are frequent and generally negative, and have a cumulative effect on the publics perception of people with mental illness and on the likelihood of people with mental illness seeking appropriate help. The article concludes that there is a need for the mental health sector and the film and television industries to collaborate to counter negative portrayals of mental illness, and to explore the potential for positive portrayals to educate and inform, as well as to entertain.

'I'm searching for solutions': why are obese individuals turning to the Internet for help and support with 'being fat'?

Introduction  This study explores what types of information obese individuals search for on the Internet, their motivations for seeking information and how they apply it in their daily lives.

‘Any one of these boat people could be a terrorist for all we know!’ Media representations and public perceptions of ‘boat people’ arrivals in Australia:

In April 2009 a boat (named the ‘SIEV 36’ by the Australian Navy) carrying 49 asylum seekers exploded off the north coast of Australia. Media and public debate about Australia’s responsibility to individuals seeking asylum by boat was instantaneous. This paper investigates the media representation of the ‘SIEV 36’ incident and the public responses to media reports through online news fora. We examined three key questions: 1) Does the media reporting refer back to and support previous policies of the Howard Government? 2) Does the press and public discourse portray asylum arrivals by boat as a risk to Australian society? 3) Are journalists following and applying industry guidelines about the reporting of asylum seeker issues? Our results show that while there is an attempt to provide a balanced account of the issue, there is variation in the degree to which different types of reports follow industry guidelines about the reporting of issues relating to asylum seekers and the use of ‘appropriate’ language.

'Our girth is plain to see': An analysis of newspaper coverage of Australia's Future 'Fat Bomb'

The news media plays an important role in making visible and shaping public understandings of health and health risks. In relation to overweight and obesity, it has been suggested that the media is more likely to engage in alarmist reporting in a climate in which it is taken for granted that obesity is an ‘epidemic’. This study analyses Australian media coverage of a report on overweight and obesity, Australias Future ‘Fat Bomb’: a report on the long-term consequences of Australias expanding waistline on cardiovascular disease, by one of Australia’s leading health and medical research institutes. Our study found that the report was consistently framed across media outlets as showing that Australia is the ‘fattest nation’ in the world, having overtaken the Americans. This is despite the fact that the Fat Bomb study did not include international comparisons and was based only on data from middle-aged Australians. Because reports of increasing rates of obesity had already been widely covered in the media, the press needed to find a new way of signifying the problem, which was provided by comments made by its lead author in publicising the report. Consistent with previous research, there was a notable absence of critical commentary on the study and a failure to test the claims of its lead author. We conclude that this reporting could have contributed to a policy environment in which the perceived threat of obesity is deemed to be so great that efforts to contain it may be subjected to less scrutiny than they warrant.

Do Health Beliefs and Behaviors Differ According to Severity of Obesity? A Qualitative Study of Australian Adults

Public responses to obesity have focused on providing standardized messages and supports to all obese individuals, but there is limited understanding of the impact of these messages on obese adults. This descriptive qualitative study using in-depth interviews and a thematic method of analysis, compares the health beliefs and behaviors of 141 Australian adults with mild to moderate (BMI 30−39.9) and severe (BMI ≥ 40) obesity. Mildly obese individuals felt little need to change their health behaviors or to lose weight for health reasons. Most believed they could “lose weight” if they needed to, distanced themselves from the word obesity, and stigmatized those “fatter” than themselves. Severely obese individuals felt an urgent need to change their health behaviors, but felt powerless to do so. They blamed themselves for their weight, used stereotypical language to describe their health behaviors, and described being “at war” with their bodies. Further research, particularly about the role of stigma and stereotyping, is needed to fully understand the impact of obesity messaging on the health beliefs, behaviors, and wellbeing of obese and severely obese adults.

Obese adults’ perceptions of news reporting on obesity: The panopticon and synopticon at work

News reporting, in channels such as broadcast and print media, on obesity as an issue has increased dramatically in the last decade. A qualitative study, in which we used in-depth interviews and thematic analysis, was undertaken to explore 142 obese individuals’ perceptions of, and responses to, news reporting about obesity. Participants believed that news reporting on obesity focused on personal responsibility and blame, and portrayed obese people as “freaks.” They described being portrayed as “enemies” of society who were rarely given a voice or identity in such news coverage unless they were seen to be succeeding at weight loss. They were also critical of the simplistic coverage of obesity, which was in contrast with their personal experiences of obesity as complex and difficult to address. Participants believed that obesity news reporting added to the discrimination they experienced. We consider how this news reporting may act as a form of “synoptical” social control, working in tandem with wider public health panoptical surveillance of obesity.

Representations of Public Risk: Illegal Drugs in the Australian Press

The paper draws upon recent research investigating news frames, and risk theory to analyse Australian national news coverage of illegal drugs. Recent research has elaborated how risks are socially defined and acted upon, especially given changing media representations of risks. Public understandings of the risks associated with illegal drug use, policing and policies develop through the continuing and often changing representations of these risks in the media, as well as through other social practices. This paper questions the role of some prominent newspapers in setting alarmist and sensational frames to define risk in this context, and demonstrates how journalism can heighten community fear.

Risk, expert uncertainty, and Australian news media: public and private faces of expert opinion during the 2009 swine flu pandemic

During the outbreak of emerging infectious diseases scientists and public health officials play a key role in informing communities about what is happening, why and what they can do about it, and the news media are critical to how expert knowledge is presented to the public. Therefore, it is crucial to examine the media-oriented practices of experts and to gauge their perceptions of risk communication during public health emergencies. This study investigates the experiences of scientists and public health officials who were sources for the Australian news media during the 2009 pH1N1 (swine flu) pandemic. The paper discusses the perception among some participants that their colleagues were ‘toeing the party’ line as distinct from offering individual ‘expert opinion’, and identifies the different meanings they associated with responsible expert risk communication. In their encounters with the media some indicated frustration with news media constraints, while others demonstrated an internalization of the kind of skills required to play the ‘media game’. The paper discusses the ways in which scientific experts balanced their roles and responsibilities in the context of institutional pressures to be an active media performer. The study affirms the importance of looking beyond media texts and to the activities and perceptions of media sources in order to fully appreciate framing contests, especially when there is a suggestion that dissenting views on disease risk are restricted from entering public debate.

Legal bans on pro-suicide web sites: an early retrospective from Australia.

There are worldwide concerns that pro-suicide web sites may trigger suicidal behaviors among vulnerable individuals. In 2006, Australia became the first country to criminalize such sites, sparking heated debate. Concerns were expressed that the law casts the criminal net too widely; inappropriately interferes with the autonomy of those who wish to die; and has jurisdictional limitations, with off-shore web sites remaining largely immune. Conversely, proponents point out that the law may limit access to domestic pro-suicide web sites, raise awareness of Internet-related suicide, mobilize community efforts to combat it, and serve as a powerful expression of societal norms about the promotion of suicidal behavior.

AIDS assassins : Australian media’s portrayal of HIV-positive refugees who deliberately infect others

The media representations of refugees who are HIV-positive often revolve around criminal transmission cases. This study examines the approach the Australian mass media have taken toward the case of two men from refugee backgrounds and how this stigmatizing language is unhelpful in discussions of HIV. An extensive search of the Factiva database was undertaken for all newspaper articles in the major dailies that mentioned “HIV,” “AIDS,” and “refugee” between 2002 and 2008. Analysis was guided by several approaches to media analysis in an attempt to understand the representations of HIV-positive refugees. When analyzing the media articles of criminal cases relating to HIV we found that refugees who are HIV-positive were portrayed in a negative fashion, with the concept of “otherness” prominent throughout most newspaper media reports. Considering this is the main source of information for most people concerning HIV, this representation carries the potential to lead to further stigma and discrimination to both people living with HIV and refugees.