Title

Visual Framing, Stigmatization, Race, and Obesity: Examining Television News Presentation of Stories about Obesity and Stories about Health

Abstract

This study conducted a content analysis to examine how weight and race/ethnicity impacted how people were portrayed in the imagery accompanying broadcast and cable television news stories about obesity compared to stories about health. Five hundred and seven people were analyzed in 135 stories. Results showed that people who were overweight were often shown as an isolated body part, but their portrayal was not entirely stigmatizing. Overweight people were often shown exercising, which combats weight stereotypes. Additionally, race/ethnicity did not make the portrayal more stigmatizing. The results of the content analysis are discussed with an emphasis on the larger implications of the findings.

Department(s)

Communication

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2016.1236348

Keywords

Content Analysis, News, Obesity, Stigma, Visual Framing

Publication Date

10-19-2016

Journal Title

Communication Studies

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS