Guiding creators how to tell stories about mental health: A content analysis of mental health framing in the Mental Health Media Guide
Abstract The responsibility of mental health, like most health phenomena, in the United States is often positioned onto the individual. Attent...
Abstract
The responsibility of mental health, like most health phenomena, in the United States is often positioned onto the individual. Attention to and representation of mental health discourse continues to grow in the United States' media, yet few studies in health communication address mental health from a media framing perspective. Using Iyengar’s episodic and thematic framing, we conduct a content analysis of the “Terms and Context” section in the Mental Health Media Guide (2021), an online digital resource for mental health storytelling created by leading media companies and mental health experts. A census of the entire Terms and Context section revealed the MHMG frames mental health as episodic via their behavioral causal claims but do not fully separate the cause of public issues from systematic issues, nor do they erase systematic responsibility as anticipated in framing literature. As the public relies on popular media as a main source of information regarding mental health, it becomes salient to examine the transglobal media giants who are now guiding others how to frame mental health via their stories.
Key Words: Framing, Media, Mental Health, Causal Attribution, Content Analysis.
About the Authors
* Kailin Regutti is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States of America. Kailin Regutti is a critical cultural and media studies scholar whose research examines the representation of mental health at the intersection of gender.
** Madison LaVonne Cerce is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States of America. Madison LaVonne Cerce is a critical pedagogy scholar whose communication research is centered on the dynamic of graduate students and graduate student instructors.
JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 2023, pp. 42-51.
© Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON).
Article Citation
Regutti, K. & Cerce, M. L. (2023). Guiding creators how to tell stories about mental health: A content analysis of mental health framing in the Mental Health Media Guide. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 15 (2): 42-51.
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