Newspaper reporting of mental illness
| Published date | 19 June 2017 |
| Date | 19 June 2017 |
| Pages | 78-85 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-10-2016-0051 |
| Author | Namino Ottewell |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Public mental health |
Newspaper reporting of mental illness
Namino Ottewell
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine a time trend in newspaper reporting of mental illness in
Japan between 1987 and 2014.
Design/methodology/approach –Four high-circulation national newspapers (the Yomiuri newspaper,
the Asahi newspaper, the Mainichi newspaper and the Nikkei Newspaper) were selected for analysis. Articles
were analysed using qualitative content analysis (n ¼448).
Findings –Whilst articles concerning the dangerousness of those with mental illness occupied a high
proportion of coverage between 1987 and 2014, an overall shift is apparent whereby there is now more
reporting of mental illness in relation to stress than in relation to dangerousness, particularly for depression.
In contrast, schizophrenia was often reported in the context of violent crime. Information on the treatment,
symptoms and prevalence of mental illness was rarely reported.
Social implications –While the nature of newspaper coverage of mental illness has been changing, there
still is over-representation of dangerousness of mental illness, particularly of schizophrenia. For improving the
public’s images of mental illness, it is hoped to reduce the proportion of reporting about dangerousness and
to increase the proportion of reporting about treatment, symptoms and prevalence of mental illness
and personal stories of those affected.
Originality/value –The present study is the first to examine changes in Japanese newspaper coverage over
time and at the variation in reporting among diagnoses.
Keywords Japan, Schizophrenia, Depression, Stigma, Media, Social attitudes
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
A large body of research has examined media images of mental illness. The findings of several
review studies demonstrate that between the 1950s and 2005 mental illness was consistently
misrepresented and, particularly, people with mental illness were frequently portrayed as violent
and dangerous (Nairn, 2007; Sieff, 2004; Stuart, 2006; Wahl, 1992). Recent research has also
established the same result (Goodwin, 2014; Kesic et al., 2011; Murphy et al., 2013), while it also
identified a wider range of themes, including social roles and the talent of people with such
illnesses (Knifton and Quinn, 2008). With respect to time trends, Rhydderch et al. (2016) found a
positive change, with stigmatising articles significantly decreasing and anti-stigmatising ones
increasing between 2008 and 2014 in English newspapers. Meanwhile, studies have also
revealed that people’s views on mental illness can be affected by the depiction of it in the media
(Clement et al., 2013; Dietrich et al., 2006).
The presentstudy aimed to describe a time trend in newspaperreporting of mental illness in Japan,
where there havebeen few studies conducted on this topic.It also aimed to compare newspaper
articles about schizophrenia and those about depression. This is because schizophrenia and
depression maybe represented differently in the media sincethese illnesses have different images
among lay people, with schizophrenia being viewed more negatively (Griffiths et al.,2006;
Schomerus et al., 2012).
Methods
Four high-circulation national newspapers were selected for analysis: the Yomiuri newspaper,
the Asahi newspaper, the Mainichi newspaper and the Nikkei newspaper. As for their political
Received 19 October 2016
Revised 1 April 2017
Accepted 1 April 2017
Namino Ottewell is based at
School of Social Sciences,
Waseda University, Tokyo,
Japan.
PAG E 78
j
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH
j
VOL. 16 NO. 2 2017, pp. 78-85, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-5729 DOI 10.1108/JPMH-10-2016-0051
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