PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Alessandro R. Marcon
AU  - Timothy Caulfield
TI  - Donation and transplantation coverage in the Canadian media: a content analysis of story focus over 2 decades
AID  - 10.1503/cjs.012721
DP  - 2022 Oct 12
TA  - Canadian Journal of Surgery
PG  - E661--E664
VI  - 65
IP  - 5
4099  - http://canjsurg.ca/content/65/5/E661.short
4100  - http://canjsurg.ca/content/65/5/E661.full
SO  - CAN J SURG2022 Oct 12; 65
AB  - Media coverage affects policy and debates around organ donation and transplantation. We performed a content analysis of stories in the Canadian popular press with a focus on organ donation and transplantation. We built a data set of articles published between Jan. 1, 2000, and May 7, 2019, that included 2082 articles, and we assessed their headlines and lead paragraphs to determine the stories’ focus and tone. The most common topics were recipients and donors (46.4%), policy (31.6%) and raising awareness/funds (26.6%). The tone of the articles was positive in 39.1%, neutral in 34.4%, and negative in 26.5%. The strong focus on patients in the reporting may be clouding critical policy discussions. Health communicators and policy-makers should continually assess how to create engaging messaging that remains accurate.