Voices of Trust: A Thematic Analysis of Black News Media’s Messaging to Promote COVID-19 Vaccination

Abstract

Purpose

This descriptive study explores how a trusted information source within the Black community—the Black News Media—promoted COVID-19 vaccination during a time when this population experienced high rates of vaccine hesitancy and low COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

Approach

To explore the media’s role in promoting COVID-19 vaccination, a multi-level sampling method was used to identify newspaper articles for review.

Setting

Newspaper articles discussing COVID-19 vaccination published by newspapers primarily serving Black communities between March 2021 and October 2022.

Participants

Newspaper publishers were identified through the Black Media Initiative —a resource that catalogs media outlets in the U.S that primarily serve Black communities. Publishers were selected based on their publishing frequency and online accessibility.

Method

One hundred fifty newspaper articles were randomly sampled from a sample of 906 articles. Using an inductive thematic analysis, this study examined the key themes used to encourage vaccination among Africans Americans.

Results

The study found five key themes the Black News Media used to promote vaccination: Protecting others, particularly the vulnerable, the unvaccinated, deadly decisions, responsibility, and return to normalcy.

Limitations

Sampling constraints, including uneven outlet representation across regions and the exclusion of difficult-to-search archives, may have limited the diversity of perspectives and themes identified. Moreover, the review may have excluded some viable articles.

Conclusion

Several of the themes used by media aligned with frames recognized as effective in promoting vaccination, making them well-suited to address high levels of vaccine hesitancy and skepticism toward the COVID-19 vaccine within Black communities.

Keywords

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy black newspapers black community trusted information source

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