@article{ref1,
title="Pilot trial of a media intervention with journalism students on news reporting of mental illness in the context of violence and crime",
journal="Health promotion journal of Australia",
year="2021",
author="Ross, Anna M. and Morgan, Amy J. and Wake, Alexandra and Jorm, Anthony F. and Reavley, Nicola J.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="ISSUE ADDRESSED: News reports linking mental illness to violent crime are among the most stigmatising portrayals. These portrayals can perpetuate stereotypes of dangerousness, negatively influencing public attitudes and having a harmful impact on people with lived experience of mental illness. With the aim of improving the quality of news portrayals and mitigating harm, best-practice guidelines for media reporting on mental illness, violence and crime have been developed. To increase understanding of the guidelines' content, a one-hour workshop based on the main principles was developed for journalism students. <br><br>METHODS: In this study, the workshop was piloted with a pre and 3-week follow-up evaluation with a cohort of journalism students (n = 29). <br><br>RESULTS: Three weeks after the workshop, there were significant improvements in attitudes towards severe mental illness, knowledge of best-practice reporting, intentions and confidence to report consistently with the best-practice guidelines, and performance on an editing task designed to assess adherence to the guidelines. Belief in dangerousness/unpredictability reduced markedly, demonstrating that the workshop effectively addressed misinformation about people with severe mental illness being a risk to the public. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This pilot trial provides promising initial results and provides a basis for wider implementation and evaluation of media training on this topic. SO WHAT: Improved understanding of best-practice media guidelines, as generated through this workshop, has potential to reduce stigmatising news reporting on people with mental illness, and consequently reduce public stigma.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1036-1073",
doi="10.1002/hpja.537",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hpja.537"
}