How do national and regional print media capture health news and information in India?

Background: Mass media significantly contributes to the dissemination of scientific information, including health information on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, national programs, and government schemes. Aims and objectives: To identify the number of news articles related to health in 4 regional newspapers and to classify the news items in terms of type of disease/ health issue covered. Methodology: Four leading newspapers were reviewed to identify the health-related news, their importance in terms of location in the newspaper, and the type of health issue covered. These were further classified based on the level of evidence used. Results: We extracted 720 health-related articles; 411 in English and 309 in Kannada dailies. The English newspaper had maximum coverage on environment 95 (23.1%) and health advisories 60 (14.5%). The Kannada papers on the other hand were dominated by health advisories 65 (21%), followed by nutrition and fitness 48 (15.3%), and environment 40 (12.9%). After the articles were categorized according to their evidence, it was discovered that 92% of them were evidence-based, with 84% of those articles based on Grade-II evidence. Conclusion: Health news in newspapers varies, often focusing on environment and health advisories, and relies heavily on expert opinion rather than empirical data.