Elena O. Lingas, MPH, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 140 Warren Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, 510-204-9700, lingas@uclink4.berkeley.edu

Background: Newspapers are a key source of health information for policymakers and the public. After the front page, the editorial page is read most frequently. To stay informed of issues important to constituents, legislative offices in Sacramento, California monitor newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and the Spanish-language daily La Opinión. To advance policy on their issue, public health advocates first must assess how it is presented in the news. This study examines two newspapers’ editorial interest in environmental health policy. Method: An ethnographic content analysis of masthead editorials in La Opinión and the Los Angeles Times over a 12-month period: January 1 - December 31, 2001. A structured coding sheet was used for demographic coding. Results: There were 1129 editorials in the Los Angeles Times and 370 in La Opinión. Environmental health was second to injury and violence prevention in the number of health-related editorials found in both newspapers. Global warming and the Bush Administration’s environmental policies were among the most frequent environmental health topics. While both newspapers used the spotlight of the masthead editorial to draw attention to both local and global environmental health concerns, approximately one-quarter of the editorials provided no guidance to readers for solving the problem. Implications: The attention paid to environmental health policies by both editorial boards is an indicator of California’s interest in environmental health. Advocates have an opportunity to educate the editorial boards on public health solutions to these policy problems, the burdens of which often fall disproportionately on disadvantaged communities.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• Describe the variety of environmental health topics written about in the two newspapers’ editorials;
• Identify key similarities and differences in the arguments made by the editorials of the two newspapers; and
• Recognize opportunities for approaching editorial boards with public health frames on environmental health issues.

Keywords: Media Message, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.