IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i4p3230-d1066257.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examining Exposure to Messaging, Content, and Hate Speech from Partisan News Social Media Posts on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

Author

Listed:
  • Thu T. Nguyen

    (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Weijun Yu

    (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Junaid S. Merchant

    (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Shaniece Criss

    (Department of Health Sciences, Furman University, Greenville, SC 29613, USA)

  • Chris J. Kennedy

    (Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA)

  • Heran Mane

    (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Krishik N. Gowda

    (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Melanie Kim

    (Department of Anthropology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA)

  • Ritu Belani

    (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Caitlin F. Blanco

    (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Manvitha Kalachagari

    (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Xiaohe Yue

    (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

  • Vanessa V. Volpe

    (Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA)

  • Amani M. Allen

    (Divisions of Community Health Sciences and Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA)

  • Yulin Hswen

    (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA)

  • Quynh C. Nguyen

    (Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA)

Abstract

We investigated the content of liberal and conservative news media Facebook posts on race and ethnic health disparities. A total of 3,327,360 liberal and conservative news Facebook posts from the United States (US) from January 2015 to May 2022 were collected from the Crowd Tangle platform and filtered for race and health-related keywords. Qualitative content analysis was conducted on a random sample of 1750 liberal and 1750 conservative posts. Posts were analyzed for a continuum of hate speech using a newly developed method combining faceted Rasch item response theory with deep learning. Across posts referencing Asian, Black, Latinx, Middle Eastern, and immigrants/refugees, liberal news posts had lower hate scores compared to conservative posts. Liberal news posts were more likely to acknowledge and detail the existence of racial/ethnic health disparities, while conservative news posts were more likely to highlight the negative consequences of protests, immigration, and the disenfranchisement of Whites. Facebook posts from liberal and conservative news focus on different themes with fewer discussions of racial inequities in conservative news. Investigating the discourse on race and health in social media news posts may inform our understanding of the public’s exposure to and knowledge of racial health disparities, and policy-level support for ameliorating these disparities.

Suggested Citation

  • Thu T. Nguyen & Weijun Yu & Junaid S. Merchant & Shaniece Criss & Chris J. Kennedy & Heran Mane & Krishik N. Gowda & Melanie Kim & Ritu Belani & Caitlin F. Blanco & Manvitha Kalachagari & Xiaohe Yue &, 2023. "Examining Exposure to Messaging, Content, and Hate Speech from Partisan News Social Media Posts on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-13, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:3230-:d:1066257
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3230/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3230/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schneider, Anne & Ingram, Helen, 1993. "Social Construction of Target Populations: Implications for Politics and Policy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 334-347, June.
    2. Kim, A.E. & Kumanyika, S. & Shive, D. & Igweatu, U. & Kim, S.-H., 2010. "Coverage and framing of racial and ethnic health disparities in US newspapers, 1996-2005," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(S1), pages 224-231.
    3. Gollust, S.E. & Lantz, P.M. & Ubel, P.A., 2009. "The polarizing effect of news media messages about the social determinants of health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(12), pages 2160-2167.
    4. Rowbotham, Samantha & McKinnon, Merryn & Marks, Leah & Hawe, Penelope, 2019. "Research on media framing of public policies to prevent chronic disease: A narrative synthesis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chien Thang Pham & Trang Ta Thi Nguyet, 2022. "Using Media to Influence Consumer Attitudes to Domestic Goods in Vietnam by Framing Public Interest: A Media Framing Effect Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, November.
    2. Liu, Jiawei & Niederdeppe, Jeff, 2024. "Effects of communicating health disparities using social comparison framing: A comprehensive review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    3. Maddison, Jonathan & Watts, Richard, 2011. "The technological fix as a frame in media debates about tailpipe emissions," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 294-303.
    4. Fritz Sager & Yvan Rielle, 2013. "Sorting through the garbage can: under what conditions do governments adopt policy programs?," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 46(1), pages 1-21, March.
    5. Frank R. Baumgartner & Christine Mahoney, 2008. "Forum Section: The Two Faces of Framing," European Union Politics, , vol. 9(3), pages 435-449, September.
    6. Yao Zhu & Shousheng Chai & Jieqi Chen & Ian Phau, 2024. "How was rural tourism developed in China? Examining the impact of China’s evolving rural tourism policies," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 28945-28969, November.
    7. Frank Edwards, 2025. "Incorporating a more expansive theory of racism into child and family policy systems," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(2), pages 711-714, March.
    8. Daniel Béland & Alex Jingwei He & M Ramesh, 2022. "COVID-19, crisis responses, and public policies: from the persistence of inequalities to the importance of policy design [The impact of COVID-19 on gender equality]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(2), pages 187-198.
    9. Nano Prawoto & Eko Priyo Purnomo & Abitassha Az Zahra, 2020. "The Impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic on Socio-Economic Mobility in Indonesia," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(3), pages 57-71.
    10. Matt Guardino & Suzanne Mettler, 2020. "Revealing the “Hidden welfare state†: How policy information influences public attitudes about tax expenditures," Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration, vol. 3(1).
    11. Christopher Weible & David Carter, 2015. "The composition of policy change: comparing Colorado’s 1977 and 2006 smoking bans," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 48(2), pages 207-231, June.
    12. Erika K. Gubrium & Ariana Fernandes Guilherme, 2014. "Policing Norwegian Welfare: Disciplining and Differentiating within the Bottom Rungs," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(3), pages 005-017.
    13. Lorenz Kammermann & Karin Ingold, 2019. "Going beyond technocratic and democratic principles: stakeholder acceptance of instruments in Swiss energy policy," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 52(1), pages 43-65, March.
    14. Melchior, Cristiane & Warin, Thierry & Oliveira, Mirian, 2025. "An investigation of the COVID-19-related fake news sharing on Facebook using a mixed methods approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    15. Andrea Briceno-Mosquera, 2023. "Factors Influencing In-State Resident Tuition Policy for Undocumented Youth in the USA," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1699-1717, December.
    16. Clare Daniel & Anna Mahoney & Grace Riley, 2024. "The Politics of Problem Definition: Abortion Policy in Republican-Controlled Louisiana," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-15, July.
    17. Neal D. Woods, 2021. "The State of State Environmental Policy Research: A Thirty‐Year Progress Report," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 38(3), pages 347-369, May.
    18. Champagne, Sarah N. & Macdiarmid, Jennie I. & Olusola, Omotayo & Phimister, Euan & Guntupalli, Aravinda Meera, 2024. "Heating or eating? The framing of food and fuel poverty in UK news media," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 360(C).
    19. Rodney E. Hero, 2002. "Language policy and identity politics in the United States," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(1), pages 151-153.
    20. Cousins, Linwood H., 2013. "Deservingness, children in poverty, and collective well being," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1252-1259.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:3230-:d:1066257. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.