Newspaper coverage of mental illness before and after a highly publicized violent event: An agenda-setting study

The representations of mental illness and violent acts are especially salient within the current mental illness stigma reduction efforts. Agenda Setting theory demonstrates that the media serve as a potential location in which the presentation and consideration of perspectives of social problems take place. This content analysis of 100 New Mexico newspaper articles examines the messages being conveyed to the public and to policymakers through coverage of mental illness issues before and after a highly publicized violent incident. The incident under investigation occurred on August 18, 2005 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and involved a man diagnosed with schizophrenia who within a 16 hour period shot and killed 5 people, two of whom were police officers. Data illustrate that the visibility of mental illness, associations made between mental illness and criminal activity, and mental illness and dangerousness in New Mexico newspaper articles increased significantly in the 14 months after August 18, 2005 as compared to the 14 months before. Data also illustrate that the voice or perspectives of those with mental illness are rarely incorporated into newspaper articles as compared to the perspectives of government officials, law enforcement officers, lawyers, and mental health professionals. Implications for stigma reduction efforts include damage control campaigns after highly publicized violent events, interventions targeted at media producers, and future research regarding stigma protective factors.