ABSTRACT
This chapter reports on new research by the Glasgow Media Group on press and television treatment of mental health issues. It looks at the negative impact that such coverage can have on popular understanding, and examines possible strategies for achieving a more positive response from media in this area. The research included a content analysis of press and television output, plus a series of focus group interviews to analyse the processes by which audiences received and understood messages in this area (for a more detailed account of the sample and methods see Philo, 1996). The results show clearly that ill-informed beliefs on, for example, the association of schizophrenia with violence can be traced directly to media accounts.
