Thread abt Media Framing of vaccine legislation that I had threaded wrong... 1/n
Take a look at this photo... Here we go again a la NJ... Yeah signs make them look silly to many, but avg. voter isn't going to show up to these taken-for-granted issues. wsj.com/articles/conne…
Take a look at this photo... Here we go again a la NJ... Yeah signs make them look silly to many, but avg. voter isn't going to show up to these taken-for-granted issues. wsj.com/articles/conne…
2/n Re: press, presentation very impt: this piece eg: Fairly std presentation... Overview then comments by anti-vax grp (elevates their imptance) *then* details on problem bill seeks to address. Unhelpful. N of 1 but like much NJ coverage, no expert quote patch.com/connecticut/so…
3/n Or this one that starts w/"Lawmakers are wasting no time seeking public input on a proposal to erase Connecticut’s religious exemption from mandatory vaccinations." Unhelpful as is (usual) amt of word count given to anti-vax grp, which legitimates them ctmirror.org/2020/01/14/law…
4/n Or this one that starts w/... "Democratic legislators ignited controversy last spring when they suggested the state repeal its religious exemption to mandatory vaccinations, a longstanding provision in CT law..." ctpost.com/local/article/…
5/n Interesting thing with that last article: the "why" motivating the bill is all the way at the bottom, preceded by discussion of ease of exemption (it is very easy in CT) and followed by comment of opposition grp.
6/n But BIG overall issue in this unplanned preceding thread is framing of these issues as heavily political (partisan). We saw this in CA even. Political, general (not hlth news) reporters covering it. Hence, story covered heavily as politics, diff's of opinion, etc. that...
7/n ...work great for anti-vax activists who don't have sci on side. Makes a public hlth issue that shldn't be abt politics instead be partisan. Think too what it means for reader to see anti-vax grp IDing w/"Freedom" in name. Overall slim coverage of experts from what I've read.
8/8 Sorry folks for any earlier confusion in pointing you to these replies to earlier comments by @doritmi & @benedictecallan. I clearly have Twitter challenges and the phone app didn't help.
Cc: journalism #scicomm, others abt media framing of vax legis. @tarahaelle @carlyweeks @bethlinas @ImmunizeCa @COParents4Vax @VaccinateCal @Voices4Vaccines @PeterHotez @DevonGreyson @picardonhealth @DrToddWo @AboutPediatrics @VaccinateIN @immunizetx @Sarah_Mojarad @drninashapiro
