A Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of the Seasonal Flu Vaccine in Ontario, Canada, October 2001 to March 2011

Abstract

Seasonal flu vaccine uptake has fallen dramatically over the past decade in Ontario, Canada, despite promotional efforts by public health officials. Media can be particularly influential in shaping the public response to seasonal flu vaccine campaigns. We therefore sought to identify the nature of the relationship between risk messages about getting the seasonal flu vaccine in newspaper coverage and the uptake of the vaccine by Ontarians between 2001 and 2010. A content analysis was conducted to quantify risk messages in newspaper content for each year of analysis. The quantification allowed us to test the correlation between the frequency of risk messages and vaccination rates. During the time period 2001–2010, vaccination rates were positively and significantly related to the frequency of risk messages in newspaper coverage (r = .691, p < .05). The most commonly identified risk messages related to the flu vaccine being ineffective, the flu vaccine being poorly understood by science, and the flu vaccine causing harm. Newspaper coverage plays an important role in shaping public response to seasonal flu vaccine campaigns. Public health officials should work alongside media to ensure that the public are exposed to information necessary for making informed decisions regarding vaccination.

Acknowledgment

We would like to acknowledge Jackie Stapleton for her contribution to the article search and data extraction that made this analysis possible.

Notes

¹ The 2012 circulation data report calculated total circulation levels based on Alliance for Audited Media (AAM), Canadian Circulation Audits Board (CCAB), Canadian Media Circulation Audit (CMCA), or owner-provided data. CMCA and CCAB currently provide data based on a 12-month period ending December 31. For those dailies audited by AAM, data from two 6-month snapshot reports, ending March 31 and September 30, were averaged to provide a 12-month picture. The following two measures of analysis were used: (a) the average number of copies sold per publishing day (traditional method) and (b) the total number of copies sold per week or customer cycle (neotraditional method).