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Tuberculosis and foreign-born populations in the United States: A mixed methods pilot study of media reporting and political identification.
- Source :
-
PloS one [PLoS One] 2020 Apr 21; Vol. 15 (4), pp. e0230967. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Apr 21 (Print Publication: 2020). - Publication Year :
- 2020
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Abstract
- Background: Media reporting on communicable diseases has been demonstrated to affect the perception of the public. Communicable disease reporting related to foreign-born persons has not yet been evaluated.<br />Objective: Examine how political leaning in the media affects reporting on tuberculosis (TB) in foreign-born persons.<br />Methods: HealthMap, a digital surveillance platform that aggregates news sources on global infectious diseases, was used. Data was queried for media reports from the U.S. between 2011-2019, containing the term "TB" or "tuberculosis" and "foreign born", "refugee (s)," or "im (migrants)." Reports were reviewed to exclude duplicates and non-human cases. Each media source was rated using two independent media bias indicators to assess political leaning. Forty-six non-tuberculosis reports were randomly sampled and evaluated as a control. Two independent reviewers performed sentiment analysis on each report.<br />Results: Of 891 TB-associated reports in the US, 46 referenced foreign-born individuals, and were included in this analysis. 60.9% (28) of reports were published in right-leaning news media and 6.5% (3) of reports in left-leaning media, while 39.1% (18) of the control group reports were published in left- leaning media and 10.9% (5) in right-leaning media (p < .001). 43% (20) of all study reports were posted in 2016. Sentiment analysis revealed that right-leaning reports often portrayed foreign-born persons negatively.<br />Conclusion: Preliminary data from this pilot suggest that political leaning may affect reporting on TB in US foreign-born populations. Right-leaning news organizations produced the most reports on TB, and the majority of these reports portrayed foreign-born persons negatively. In addition, the control group comprised of non-TB, non-foreign born reports on communicable diseases featured a higher percentage of left-leaning news outlets, suggesting that reporting on TB in foreign-born individuals may be of greater interest to right-leaning outlets. Further investigation both in the U.S. and globally is needed.<br />Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1932-6203
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- PloS one
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 32315312
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230967