Staff, Time, Space Constraints Limit Coverage of Children’s Health Issues

Staff, Time, Space Constraints Limit Coverage of Children’s Health Issues
By Bonnie Bressers
Newspaper Research Journal • Vol. 26, Nos. 2&3 • Spring/Summer 2005

EXCERPT: As gatekeepers of the messages the public receives, the press plays “a pivotal role in influencing awareness of child-related issues”‘ and serves as the foundation for public opinion about the need for policy issues that promote children’s interests on a variety of issues…. By shifting from episodic coverage to contextual, analytic reportage on issues not traditionally defined as “children’s health,” newspapers could provide a proactive approach to dealing with health issues and problems that affect the lives of today’s children and lay the foundation for adult health status.