The present study aims to explore the media presentations of AIDS-related issues in Taiwan, including news coverage and media campaign messages, and to examine the impact of media agenda-setting on the public. Specifically, the study focuses on the topics addressed in the media as well as sources or spokespersons cited/used in the messages. Content analyses of news coverage and campaign messages during the major AIDS campaign period in 1995-1996 and 1996-1997, respectively, were performed. Telephone surveys conducted immediately after each campaign period were used to assess the public perceptions of the importance of AIDS-related work and the reliable sources they believed most for AIDS information. Spearman rank correlations between media agendas and public agendas were computed. For those positive and significant Spearman rho coefficients, the study further calculated cross-lagged correlations to determine the causal relationships. The study also used a panel (N =399) to examine and compare the aforementioned agenda-setting effects.
Overall, the news media were found to have more positive and stronger correlations with public perceptions of AIDS, particularly for the first-year data as well as for the non-panel ones. Causal relationships were also found between AIDS sub-issues addressed in the news and the important AIDS agendas in the public minds. Such relationships, however, were not found in the news source agenda-setting. Topics addressed in the AIDS campaign materials were positively correlated with AIDS topics in public perceptions. Nevertheless, no causal relationships were detected between them.
中文關鍵詞
愛滋病，議題設定，新聞報導，公共宣導，內容分析，電話調查
英文關鍵詞
AIDS, agenda-setting，news coverage，public information campaign，content analysis, survey