Health Communication through Chinese Media on E-Cigarette: A Topic Modeling Approach

Qian Liu, Yu Liang, Siyi Wang, Zhongguo Huang, Qing Wang, Miaoyutian Jia, Zihang Li and Wai-Kit Ming
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Qian Liu: School of Journalism and Communication, National Media Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center (Jinan University), Jinan University, No. 601, West Huangpu Avenue, Guangzhou 510632, China
Yu Liang: School of Journalism and Communication, National Media Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center (Jinan University), Jinan University, No. 601, West Huangpu Avenue, Guangzhou 510632, China
Siyi Wang: Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, No. 601, West Huangpu Avenue, Guangzhou 510632, China
Zhongguo Huang: Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, No. 601, West Huangpu Avenue, Guangzhou 510632, China
Qing Wang: School of Journalism and Communication, National Media Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center (Jinan University), Jinan University, No. 601, West Huangpu Avenue, Guangzhou 510632, China
Miaoyutian Jia: School of Journalism and Communication, National Media Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center (Jinan University), Jinan University, No. 601, West Huangpu Avenue, Guangzhou 510632, China
Zihang Li: School of Journalism and Communication, National Media Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center (Jinan University), Jinan University, No. 601, West Huangpu Avenue, Guangzhou 510632, China
Wai-Kit Ming: Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, To Yuen Building, 31 To Yuen Street, Hong Kong, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-18

Abstract: Background: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have been a newsworthy topic in China. E-cigarettes are receiving greater consumer attention due to the rise of the Chinese e-cigarettes industry. In the past decade, e-cigarettes have been widely debated across the media, particularly their identity and their health effects. Objective: this study aims to (1) find the key topics in e-cigarette news and (2) provide suggestions for future media strategies to improve health communication. Method: We collected Chinese e-cigarettes news from 1 November 2015 to 31 October 2020, in the Huike (WiseSearch) database, using “e-cigarettes” (Chinese: “电子烟”) as the keyword. We used the Jieba package in python to perform the data cleaning process and the Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling method to generate major themes of the health communication through news content. Main finding: through an analysis of 1584 news articles on e-cigarettes, this paper finds 26 topics covered with 4 themes as regulations and control ( n = 475, 30%), minor protection ( n = 436, 27.5%), industry activities ( n = 404, 25.5%), and health effects ( n = 269, 17%). The peak and decline of the number of news articles are affected by time and related regulations. Conclusion: the main themes of Chinese news content on e-cigarettes are regulations and control, and minor protection. Newspapers should shoulder the responsibilities and play an important role in health communication with balanced coverage.

Keywords: health communication; e-cigarettes; news; China; LDA; vaper (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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