Abstract
Purpose:
To describe media coverage and framing of Oakland, California’s, sugar-sweetened beverage tax.
Design:
Media content analysis.
Sample:
Media documents (n = 90), published January 1, 2016-August 31, 2019, were retrieved from Oakland news outlets and ProQuest, NexusUni, EBSCO, and Google.
Analysis:
Documents were coded using constant comparative analysis in Atlas.ti v8; with descriptive analyses conducted using Stata/SE v. 15.1.
Results:
Documents were published evenly between pre- and post-ballot periods (n = 45); the majority (n = 47) provided neutral framing. Protax documents (n = 33) highlighted SSB consumption and health associations and countered antitax messaging; antitax documents (n = 10) focused on misinformation and sowing public confusion.
Conclusion:
Neutral media educates and raises awareness. Published prior to a vote, the media may help influence public opinion regarding SSB taxes. SSB tax media advocacy campaigns, giving particular attention to timing and perspective-based framing, may help to secure adoption and support implementation.
Keywords
Purpose
Increased chronic disease risk is associated with sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption. 1 SSB taxes can reduce consumption 2 ; however, taxes often face strong opposition. Since SSB taxes are inherently political, media advocacy, using protax framing, increases awareness of SSB consumption-related harms. 3,4 Antitax framing emphasizes ideological and economic concerns, including expanding government control and lost revenue and jobs. 3,5
Understanding media coverage and framing provides important insight for those using media to promote SSB taxes. Measure HH, an Oakland, CA, ballot measure, was enacted by voters November 8, 2016; imposing a 1-cent per fluid ounce SSB distributor excise tax. 6 This study assessed Measure HH-related media coverage and framing from the pre-ballot period into implementation.
Methods
Design and Sample
A 2-pronged strategy identified Measure HH-related media, published January 1, 2016-August 31, 2019. Searches were conducted in ProQuest, NexusUni, EBSCO, and Google using Boolean strings akin to: ““Measure HH” OR ((“non-alcoholic beverage” OR soda OR “sweetened beverage” OR “sugar sweetened” OR “soft drinks”) AND tax AND Oakland*).” Local news sources (e.g., East Bay Express) were keyword searched. Included documents highlighted Oakland stakeholders or discussed the Oakland SSB tax specifically. Figure 1 outlines the search strategy, exclusion criteria, and document counts. Searches yielded 8,345 documents; 90 were deemed relevant and categorized as news (i.e., fact-based and feature stories with stakeholder representation) or editorial/opinions (i.e., editorial board statements, op-eds, letters to the editor, and opinions).
Media search flow diagram.*
Analysis
All documents were uploaded into Atlas.ti Qualitative Data Analysis Software v8 for coding and analysis. An a priori coding guide was informed by research questions, existing literature, and a related analysis. 7 Each document was coded for document type (news or editorial/opinion), stakeholder type, and frame: overall protax (i.e., supportive perspectives that recognized the potential benefits such as reduced consumption and reductions in associated chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes); overall antitax (i.e., oppositional perspectives who discussed the increased government control and potential economic losses associated with a tax); and, neutral (i.e., balanced discussions inclusive of protax and antitax perspectives).
Two study authors independently coded 10 documents in Atlas.ti and discussed discrepancies. Inter-rater agreement for these documents was calculated at >87% prior to coding remaining documents. 8 Coders met weekly to discuss coding issues to ensure consistency across coding and, where necessary, reached a consensus code for items that were confusing or complicated. Atlas.ti functions, such as code-doc tables, were used to explore the data. Coded data were exported into Excel and imported into Stata/SE v. 15.1 for descriptive analyses.
Results
Table 1 summarizes the sample by document and stakeholder type, time period, and frame. Most documents (n = 73; 81%) were news; the remaining (n = 17; 19%) were editorial/opinions. Publications were split (45 each period) between pre- and post-ballot periods. Documents represented varied stakeholder perspectives (see Table 1).
Overall Framing of Media Documents by Document Type, Stakeholder, and Time Period.
Notes: Pro: pro-tax, Anti: anti-tax, Neut: neither pro- or anti-tax OR both pro- and anti-tax frames.
Media Framing
Forty-seven documents (52%) were coded as neutral, representing both pro- and antitax stakeholders. For example, one article quoted an Oakland grocer, “…Measure HH is a tax on food and groceries” and followed with advocate commentary, “the main thing they’re [soda industry] doing is raising doubt [that] it’s a sugary drink tax.” 9
Protax documents (n = 33, 37%)—observed pre- and post-ballot—highlighted associations between SSB consumption and chronic diseases. For example: “The horrible effect of sugar on the teeth of our children and their health must be stopped.”—Resident, Oakland Voices, November 2016
10
Ten (11%) overall antitax documents were identified. Pre-ballot antitax messaging (70%) spread industry misinformation (i.e., No Oakland Grocery Tax campaign) and sowed confusion. Documents detailed concurrently airing commercials portraying retailers in front of non-taxed food products claiming the tax would, “force small businesses to raise prices across the board…the last thing Oakland residents need.”
12
Media press conference coverage illustrated retailer uncertainty: [Local store owner] “wondered aloud if there might be future attempts to tax ice cream…What’s next?” he asked.—Retailer, East Bay Express, August 2016
13
Discussion
Findings add to the scarce literature examining media coverage and framing of U.S. SSB taxes. 3,5,7 Half of documents were published pre-ballot, when voters were forming decisions; indicating an intention to educate the public. Most pre-ballot documents provided neutral framing; suggesting deliberate effort to provide impartial information, contrasting with Cook County, IL, where antitax messaging likely contributed to tax repeal. 7
Thematic findings were consistent with other jurisdictions that reported protax framing around SSB consumption-related harms. 3,5 While some studies have reported non-specific antitax opposition and a “conspicuously absent” beverage industry 3,7 ; this study found industry representatives ever-present (particularly in balanced or “neutral” framed documents).
Limitations
This study did not examine media framing effectiveness in shaping public opinion. Simple percent agreement used to calculate inter-rater agreement may overstate agreement but is recommended by seminal qualitative methods literature. 8 Also, the documents were not coded to reflect the overall frame of each stakeholder mentioned so it is possible that some stakeholders were over or undercounted in the overall document frame coding. Third, due to resource limitations social media and direct television and radio media were excluded but are an area for future study. Fourth, it is possible that documents were missed during the literature and Internet searches; however, we ran the searches in multiple literature databases and crosswalked them to ensure complete capture. Finally, the study was limited to print/electronic media documents published between January 2016 and August 31, 2019; while this covers the period before tax adoption through 2.5 years of implementation, it is possible that other relevant documents published prior to or following our inclusion dates may have been missed.
Significance
Policymakers and advocates promoting beverage taxes will face opposition; thus, having a strategic media advocacy plan will help garner support. This study highlights Oakland’s predominantly neutral media framing, which provided advocates an opportunity to correct misinformation, particularly during the pre-ballot phase.
So What?
What is already known about this topic?
Research shows media may influence public health initiatives but few studies examine media coverage and framing around a specific SSB tax.
What does this article add?
Three-plus years of Oakland, CA, SSB tax media coverage offers insight for messaging importance, timing relative to the vote, and stakeholder engagement. Predominantly neutral media framing provides impartial reporting and public education. Protax framing helps to counter antitax misinformation campaigns.
What are the implications for health promotion practice or research?
Targeted media campaigns are one strategy for educating the public and garnering support for SSB taxes.
Footnotes
Authors’ Note
YA and JFC conceptualized and assisted with the original design of the study and writing of the manuscript. AP and ST contributed to the interpretation of results and writing of the manuscript. All authors have reviewed and approved this version for publication.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declare no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by a grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Obesity Prevention Initiative (
). The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Bloomberg Philanthropies. The funder had no role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.