Does different framing in news articles influence the public’s knowledge and stigmatisation towards young adults with autism?

Abstract

News media now quotes young adults more often than in the past, with an emphasis on the negative issues. Media representation of young adults with autism are also often negative, increasing public’s stigma towards them. This study investigated how journalists frame autism stories in news articles can affect public’s perception of young adults with autism, exploring different framings which can increase public’s knowledge of autism, and reduce stigma against young adults with autism. The sample consisted of 117 participants randomly assigned to one of the two conditions where participants read a news article framed: (1) episodically; or (2) thematically. Participants filled out a pre- and post-test questionnaire consisting of Autism Stigma and Knowledge Questionnaire (ASK-Q) and the Bogardus Social Distance scale. Results indicated that the use of thematic or episodic framings in news articles had no influence in participants’ knowledge on autism. Reading a thematically framed news article increased public’s stigma in terms of higher social distance, but did not impact the public’s stigma towards individuals with autism as measured by ASK-Q stigma, whereas reading an episodically framed news article significantly increased public’s stigma towards individuals with autism, reflected on both ASK-Q stigma and social distance measures. Reading a news article framed episodically seemed to increase public’s stigma towards young adults with autism more than reading a news article framed thematically. Qualitative feedback suggests that participants thought the news articles were negatively written, which could have contributed to the increased stigma. Limitations and future research directions were discussed.