Collaborative on Media & Messaging for Health and Social Policy

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📢 Newly Published Article
📚 Year in Review: A roundup of our 2025 publications and blog posts on equity messaging, local journalism, racism in media, public health narratives, and more
🎤 A Q&A with our early career researchers
📸 A look at our growing team

Our 2025 Year in Review is here!

The COMMHSP team has wrapped up a year of impactful research, publications, and community engagement. Highlights include:

Our December COMM News is here! Catch up on the latest updates from our team, including recent publications, presentations, and a new blog post on Native American representation in the media.

Read the full edition: mailchi.mp/3dee028de89f...

Public Concern about Threats to Public Health and Science Remains Modest  | Milbank Memorial Fund In March 2025, our team conducted a public opinion survey to document the extent to which the U.S. public was aware of the rapidly emerging threats to

US adults’ awareness of actions threatening public health and science declined between March and September 2025, according to a new survey from @commhsp.bsky.social.

Public Awareness of Threats to Public Health and Science in March 2025 | Milbank Memorial Fund Our survey found that a high proportion of the American public (almost 80%) had heard about the firing of federal scientists and health workers, and a substantial number had heard of federal cuts to h...

Original survey and opinion piece: www.milbank.org/quarterly/op...

Public Concern about Threats to Public Health and Science Remains Modest  | Milbank Memorial Fund US adults’ awareness of actions threatening public health and science declined between March and September 2025, according to a new survey.

This neutrality suggests the issues are not yet salient in people’s daily lives, and our findings are a clear call for strategic storytelling and messaging to bridge this gap and mobilize support.

Read this latest piece here: shorturl.at/dRMsn

Furthermore, a large portion of the public remains neutral or unsure about the consequences of threats like grant cancellations, federal worker firings, and the removal of public health data.

Our data reveal a critical challenge for advocates: Despite accelerating threats to public health and science, public awareness has declined since March.

In our latest @milbankfund.bsky.social Quarterly Opinion, "Public Concern about Threats to Public Health and Science Remains Modest," COMM members @rebekahnagler.bsky.social, @efranklinfowler.bsky.social, and @sarahgollust.bsky.social reveal key findings from a new national follow-up survey.

These are just preliminary findings from a project we are continuing to work on - so stay tuned for more!

Quin also shares how coverage patterns vary greatly across the country between the East and West. While positive celebrations of Native identity and pop culture keywords are common, these portrayals may be undercut by high mentions of “Native-past” versus “Native-contemporary” keywords.

Quin calls attention to the increase in coverage in October around Indigenous People’s Day and November during Native American Heritage month. This finding alludes to the importance of these commemorative holidays for Native American visibility in mainstream media.

How do local TV news broadcasts cover Native Americans and their communities? In our newest blog post, Quin Mudry-Nelson shares some topline preliminary findings from the Native American Communication Project: commhsp.org/when-does-u-...

News media coverage of the U.S. social safety net: themes and gaps from a scoping review - BMC Public Health Background The social safety net, the set of policies and programs designed to improve the quality of life of individuals facing periodic or persistent financial hardship, is critical to improving population health. Despite strong evidence of its importance, policy investments in the social safety net in the United States continue to face political obstacles. One important contributor to the political dynamics of issues is public opinion, which can be shaped – for better or worse – by the news media. By reporting on, interpreting, and contextualizing policy issues, the news media play a key role in shaping public understanding of social issues. Eligibility criteria In this scoping review, we summarize cross-disciplinary literature that examined news media coverage of social safety net issues (N = 40 studies). Results We find that news coverage often focuses on individual stories and infrequently connects to broader, systemic issues, missing the opportunity to garner public support for the social safety net. Across studies, authors seldom note the implications of their work for journalistic practice nor for health equity. Conclusions Future work should examine how population health research evidence can be shared with journalists and news producers for more comprehensive media attention to the safety net within the context of the constraints news producers face.

The authors also note that there is a missed opportunity for journalists to incorporate population health evidence and structural perspectives into coverage of these topics to improve public understanding. 🛟

Full publication: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

New study by @sarahgollust.bsky.social et al. in BMC:

US news frames the social safety net around individual stories and political conflict, systemic causes or health equity implications which may undermine public support for these policies.

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📩 Read the full edition here: mailchi.mp/a51c3ca2dd30...

📰 Our September newsletter is here!

This edition highlights recent studies & publications that discuss how to change the public health narrative, the real-world impact of framing immigration as a "crisis," and a critical look at what federal COVID-19 vaccine communication missed and more.

Read the blog post here: commhsp.org/federal-comm...
Read the full study in Preventive Medicine Reports: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Margaret's Key Takeaway: The federal government missed a critical opportunity to build public trust and encourage COVID-19 vaccination by failing to use its federally-sponsored PSA campaigns to proactively and effectively communicate about the vaccine's safety, efficacy, and availability.

What can the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine PSAs teach us about public health communication? In our newest COMM blog post, first author Margaret Tait breaks down her recently published research on the critical messaging missteps in federally-sponsored PSAs.

Thanks @jenniferngandu.bsky.social!

What gives me hope is @commhsp.bsky.social's tips for communicating effectively about health disparities. It start with looking at what communities bring to the table. commhsp.org/tips-for-com...

What brings you hope @joanalker1.bsky.social?

@bigcitieshealth.org Just released their updated Overdose Prevention Messaging Playbook!

It features new evidence-based guidance on communicating about harm reduction, backed by new public opinion research.

Join their webinar on Sept. 10 to learn more.
Register: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

This paper, led by my former PhD advisee @margarettait.bsky.social, offers important insights into the limitations of the federal PSA campaign for COVID-19 vaccination way back in 2021. I know hindsight is 20/20, but wow, there were some missed opportunities in this mass communication campaign.

Was health skepticism accounted for in communication about the COVID-19 vaccine? A content analysis of federally-sponsored public service announcements about the vaccine to protect against COVID-19 in... To examine the content of public service announcements (PSAs) sponsored by the United States federal government to promote the COVID-19 vaccine and re…

3️⃣ Lack of diverse messengers: Health professionals dominated (29.4%) as spokesperson, while community voices were rare.

With health skepticism rising, this study underscores the urgent need for PSAs to confront doubts head-on.

Read the paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

1️⃣ Skepticism overlooked in PSAs: Only 25.4% of federally sponsored ads mentioned vaccine safety or efficacy—critical information to address public distrust.

2️⃣ Weak calls to action: Just 17.1% explicitly urged vaccination.

🔍 Did COVID-19 Vaccine PSAs Address Public Skepticism? New Publication Reveals Critical Gaps.

Key findings from research by @margarettait.bsky.social & team:

If public health is about protecting all communities, why are so many still left behind?

@commhsp.bsky.social’s new report offers insights for journalists, advocates, and leaders about why and how to frame issues like #StructuralRacism and #HealthInequity to drive change.
bsky.app/profile/comm...

Links to suggested tools:

Slide 2: commhsp.org/tips-for-com...
Slide 3: www.bmsg.org/who-counts-a...
Slide 5: ( @frameworks.bsky.social) www.frameworksinstitute.org/resources/co...

You can find a research brief of this study here: commhsp.org/strategies-a...