1. Cervical Cancer Awareness Month Breast Cancer Awareness Month
An analysis of how the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is represented in the online news media environment Samantha Soprano, College of Population Health Jefferson University
Background
Results
Results Continued
The highest number of articles originated from the United States, with 18,773 articles published during the time period of analysis. This is significantly more than the United Kingdom, which was second with 2,630 articles published in the same time period.
A major spike in the number of articles was seen in January, October, and August coinciding with Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and back to school well visits
Of the 1,331 articles that originated from online-only Publication 58.9% claimed to have a scientific backing associated with their publication
Publications that were identified as local news sources typically had a larger impact (higher duplication by other publications) than national news sources
Health information is a regular topic for news discussions. More than ever before, news outlets report on disease and wellness, as well as airing controversial discussions about health topics.
The general public often cites the news media as a key source for health awareness or information.
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, while an effective cancer prevention tool, can be viewed as a controversial health topic, particularly from those in the anti-vaccine movement.
How the vaccine is represented in the media may influence perceptions of the vaccine, which may ultimately have implications for vaccine acceptance or uptake.
Cervical Cancer Awareness Month
Controversial Death
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Back to School
Discussion
Of the 21, 824 articles, online-only publications account for the source of 73%, but have low impact and therefore do not reach a large audience
More traditional news outlets, such as print newspapers and television broadcasts reach a larger audience and have a bigger impact on circulating information
This analysis allows us to better understand the extent to which the HPV vaccine is being discussed in the online news media and the most effective way to disseminate accurate health information
Future analysis could include comparing the sentiment of the titles of the articles based on their source
Methods
Data set contained worldwide news articles published online pertaining to the HPV vaccine from January to September 2015
Data was limited to English language news articles and analyzed for publication date, country of origin, source of the original article, audience, scientific basis, and its impact, defined as how many times the article was duplicated by other news sources
News articles were categorized by source: online-only publications, television broadcasts, newspapers, radio broadcasts, blogs, magazines, and journal articles
The audience was identified as national or local based on the distribution of the publication
The scientific basis was based on self-identification from the publication
Sample size of English language news articles was 21,824
Limitations
Articles were limited to the English language and therefore the trends could differ if other languages were considered
Social influence from the way we communicate and how we get our information could have been a confounding variable when considering the article count per country
Many online-only publications will release their own articles or release the same article with altered titles potentially skewing their impact number
Classifications of the Highest Impact Articles
Title
Source
Origin
Audience
Impact
Impact%
Doctors use immune therapy against cervical cancer
Newspaper US
Local
1719
7.91
One dose of HPV vaccine may prevent cervical cancer
Malaysia
701
3.22
More US girls now getting cervical cancer vaccine
Malta
National
648
2.98
HPV & Cervical Cancer: What You Should Know
621
2.86
New HPV vaccine strengthens cancer protection
Television
464
2.14
Acknowledgments
Amy Leader, MPH, DrPH, Thomas Jefferson University, Phillip Massey, MPH, PhD, Drexel University, Matthew Kearney, MPH, Drexel University