Agenda Building, Source Selection, and Health News at Local Television Stations

TLDR

The study investigates how local television news health reporters gather and report health and medical news from their own perspective. The authors conducted a nationwide survey of local television news health reporters to assess their newsgathering practices. The study found that reporters largely receive story ideas from health sources, are motivated by agenda building, and rely heavily on experts to explain technical information, with health sources significantly shaping the content.

Abstract

This nationwide study of local television news health reporters examined health and medical newsgathering from the reporters’perspective. Data from this study revealed significant insight into how these health reporters receive ideas for their health stories and what motivates a health reporter to cover a particular topic. The findings suggest a link between agenda building and health reporting, suggesting that a health reporter’s reliance on sources is exacerbated by the technical nature of health and medical news. For example, more than half of respondents received ideas for their health reports directly from a health source who personally contacted them. Sixty percent said that they must frequently find a health expert to explain technical information and agreed that health sources often affect the health content making air.