Media reports on dementia: Quality and type of messages in Australian media

Abstract

Aim: To analyse changes in the quantity and quality of media reporting about dementia in Australian media between two time periods. Methods: A media retrieval service collected all news items related to dementia. Quality ratings based on previously developed criteria were made for a stratified random sample of items - 1129 items for 2000/2001 and 1606 for 2006/2007. Nine items of quality were assessed. A summary score for quality was constructed. The content of the sampled media items was also coded. Results: Overall, the mean total quality score for dementia-related items significantly improved over the study period. There were very large improvements in quality of reporting of 'sensational..