Issue

Issue 17: "Debates from Four States Over Selling Soda in Schools," by Lori Dorfman, Eliana Bukofzer, and Elena O. Lingas. In 2006, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Maryland, introduced legislation that included restrictions on the sales of sodas in schools. That same year, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation brokered a deal among soda companies to restrict soda sales in schools. We wanted to know: how were the arguments for and against restricting access to soda and junk food being portrayed in news and in testimony before lawmakers? Who was making the arguments, and what were they saying? Issue17.pdf

Issue 16: "Moving from Head to Heart: Using Media Advocacy to Talk about Affordable Housing," by Robin Dean. This is the story of how a group of dedicated but frustrated affordable housing advocates learned to tell their story so it reflected their values and the values that resonated with policy makers. What they thought would be a simple refresher course in working with the media transformed their own understanding of affordable housing, how to talk about it, and, ultimately, what was done about it. Issue16.pdf

Issue 15: "Obesity Crisis or Soda Scapegoat? The Debate Over Selling Soda in Schools," by Elena O. Lingas and Lori Dorfman. In 1999 a Venice High School student asked a simple question: can the school sell 100% fruit juice in its vending machines? No said the school -- our soda contract forbids it. The ensuing battle led the Los Angeles School Board to ban the sale of soda on its campuses, just as the Oakland Unified School District had done a year earlier. In Issue 15 we dissect the debate in news coverage of the soda sales bans and find that by acknowledging the complexity of the obesity crises, supporters of the soda sales bans may be undermining their own arguments. Issue15.pdf

Issue 14: "Making the case for paid family leave: How California's landmark law was framed in the news," by Lori Dorfman and Elena O. Lingas. On September 24, 2002, California made history as the first state in the nation enact paid family leave. Read here how the battle for paid family leave was framed by opponents and proponents in California and national news coverage. Issue 14 provides insights for both advocates and journalists as paid family leave moves into implementation in California, and onto the public agenda in other states across the nation. Issue14.pdf

Issue 13: "Distracted by Drama: How California Newspapers Portray Intimate Partner Violence," by John McManus and Lori Dorfman. Battered women's advocates and feminist scholars have long complained about how intimate partner violence appears in the news. But because the evidence has been anecdotal – focusing on one case or another – the extent that U.S. news media downplay violence against women or shift responsibility from perpetrators to victims had been difficult to gauge. Do most news stories blame the victim? Do they mitigate the perpetrator? Overall, how is intimate partner violence depicted in newspapers? And how do those portrayals compare to portrayals of other types of violence? We decided to find out by examining a year's worth of articles in two major newspapers to discover how contemporary reporting portrays intimate partner violence. Issue13.pdf

Issue 12: "American Values and the News about Children's Health," by Regina Lawrence. The term "values" often acts as political shorthand, usually for the political agenda of social conservatives. Yet values systems are crucial to any political culture. How competing American value systems of individualism and what we call interconnection are represented in news stories will influence readers' interpretations of the stories. The news about children's health provided us a particularly useful lens for analyzing American values in the news since, these days, both conservative and progressive voices are claiming to "leave no child behind." Issue12.pdf

Issue 11: "Silent Revolution: How U.S. Newspapers Portray Child Care," by John McManus and Lori Dorfman. In an information economy dependent on education, in a political climate where even conservatives promise to "leave no child behind," child-care brims with news value. Add the fact that most parents of young children spend more for it than for housing and one might expect child-care to be a frequent front page or business section story. McManus and Dorfman compare every story about child-care published on the business pages of 11 newspapers in 1999 and 2000 to child-care stories in other parts of the same newspapers. Issue11.pdf

Issue 10: "Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Childhood Nutrition Policy Issues," by Katie Woodruff and Lori Dorfman. Childhood obesity is on the rise, reaching epidemic proportions. Public health advocates have many mechanisms to arrest this trend, but are they getting the attention of policy makers through the news? Woodruff and Dorfman analyze two years of news coverage on childhood nutrition issues in California's major newspapers. Issue10.pdf

Issue 9: "Youth and Violence in California Newspapers," by John McManus and Lori Dorfman. In the week following the Columbine shootings, news reporting was so ubiquitous that it frightened students, teachers, and parents coast-to-coast – even though schools are one of the safest places for children to be. This Issue measures how reporting about more proximate and probable threats to California young people compares with coverage of dangers rare and remote. Issue9.pdf

Issue 8: "The Debate on Gun Policies in U.S. and Midwest Newspapers," by Katie Woodruff. Gun violence and its prevention were thrust onto the public's agenda on April 20, 1999, with the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. But the shootings did not happen in a vacuum. Woodruff explores the context of gun policy debate in newspapers during the spring of 1999. Issue8.pdf

Issue 7: "Child Care Coverage in U.S. Newspapers," by Lori Dorfman and Katie Woodruff. The lines of debate on child care are drawn between the personal responsibility of parents to provide for their own families and the role of the government or other institutions in helping meet this vital need. Dorfman and Woodruff analyze this tension in five years of child care news and opinion. Issue7.pdf

Issue 6: "Youth Radio: Broadcasting Violence Prevention," by Vivian Chavez. Youth Radio is dedicated to bringing the voices of youth to young and adult audiences. This is a story of young people using radio to create their own representations as a mechanism for violence prevention. Issue6.pdf

Issue 5: "Newspaper Frames of Childhood Lead Poisoning," by Jim Bellows. The leading environmental threat to children's health is lead poisoning. Bellows assesses the claims made by various sides of the issue during 1993 and 1994 in the nation's major newspapers. Issue5.pdf

Issue 4: "Children's Health in the News," by Katie Woodruff. In the late 1990's, children's health began to receive more attention in the news media. But was the coverage meaningful? Woodruff examines three months of coverage in 1997 from newspapers and National Public Radio. Issue4.pdf

Issue 3: "Oakland Shows the Way: The Coalition on Alcohol Outlet Issues and Media Advocacy as a Tool for Policy Change," by Alison Seevak. In September 1993, a small but dedicated group of prevention advocates in Oakland, California, had the alcohol industry running scared. This Issue describes how the coalition used media advocacy successfully in its four-year struggle to rectify the over concentration of alcohol outlets in Oakland. Issue3.pdf

Issue 2: "Junk Gun Bans in California Newspapers," by Katie Woodruff and Elaine Villamin. Californians made history in 1996. Across the state, 29 cities and counties voted to ban "junk guns" — the small, cheap handguns used disproportionately in crime. This Issue analyzes the arguments used during that debate in the 18 newspapers covering the regions where the bans were first enacted. Issue2.pdf

Issue 1: What is media advocacy? And how does it differ from the other ways groups use the mass media? Issue 1 shows how local groups use media advocacy to focus upstream on policy change and explains why that's so important. Issue1.pdf

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