A comparative analysis of nutrition science coverage by popular Indian daily newspapers

Abstract

This study assesses the coverage of nutrition related topics by leading English and Telugu language newspapers in India for six months and comparatively analyzes number of articles, visuals and priority in space allocation. Nutrition reports were classified into 16 sub-topics based on the commonness of their content including natural foods, obesity, fruits and vegetables, animal food and beverages. English dailies gave more coverage on obesity, beverages, chocolates, whereas Telugu dailies confined mostly to the traditional foods, promoting consumption of natural foods. Comparatively English dailies published more reports in editorial pages, front pages and as box items to grab readers’ attention significantly (P<0.01) than Telugu dailies. Descriptive analysis method was used as parameters for grading the articles. Reliability of agreement between multiple-raters was analyzed by applying Cohen’s kappa test. Few reports on nutrition found to be relied on unauthentic source of information. Two English dailies were observed as over-emphasized few research findings. To avoid publishing of under or over-emphasis of nutrition related topics in print media, there is a need for synergetic efforts between journalists and scientists in the field of diet and nutrition sciences. Key words: Nutrition, journalists, scientists, Indian daily newspapers.

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