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Review
. 2021 Feb;18(1):12-15.
doi: 10.1192/bji.2020.11.

Newspaper depiction of mental and physical health in Qatar

Khalid Elzamzamy  1 , Abdulkarim Alsiddiqi  2 , Ali Khalil  2 , Hassan Elamin  2 , Mustafa Abdul Karim  2 , Ovais Wadoo  3
Affiliations
Review

Newspaper depiction of mental and physical health in Qatar

Khalid Elzamzamy et al. BJPsych Int. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

This study provides an overview of the extent, nature and quality of reporting on mental health compared with physical health in Qatari newspapers. We analysed 1274 news reports from daily newspapers in Qatar. The majority of the articles provided general information and were either positive or neutral in tone, reporting purely on physical health matters. A small proportion made associations with violence or reported on suicide or substance use. Our results highlight the underrepresentation of mental health in Qatari newspapers. A collaboration between media and health professionals is recommended to improve reporting on mental health.

Keywords: Newspapers; Qatar; media coverage; mental health and illness; physical health.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
System of categorisation of the studied articles, based on three domains.
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