Determining Media and Stakeholder Influence On “Death Panel” Discussion Attitudes and Opinions In Longitudinal Polling to Media Tipping Points

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis:   In the far reaching debate over health care reform during 2009, the potent issue of “death panels” for senior citizens galvanized discussions.  Coined in blogs and initially picked up by a few national figures, "death panels" represented a debate whether or not language in the House of Representatives bill on providing resources to doctors to discuss end-of-life wishes with patients represented “death panels” – thus denying care to seniors at the end of life.  The terminology and issue was picked up by the national media, thereby helping shape public opinion regarding the legislation.  This AIR case study demonstrates a multi-methodology approach which includes comparing ongoing opinion polling data, daily media tracking and analysis, and influencer and stakeholder mapping to examine how media discussion and public attitude interact and shape a national debate.  The analysis employs both descriptive and advanced statistical methods to compare data set interactions demonstrate time series analysis of developing media presentation of the subject and concurrent public opinion – including the “decay” of the effect with the passage of time and rise of salient issues. This work raises interesting issues for communication.  How important are such high visibility controversies in influencing public opinion and potentially policy decisions?  Are efforts to counter misinformation effective?  What role does time play? Does opinion return to pre-controversy status? 

Methods:   This AIR and Commetric study also utilizes polling data conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.  The study spans March 2009 through December 2009 with segmentation including  a pre-controversy period (to August 2009), the  height of the controversy,  and when reporting on the issue had ended (dates to be determined based on final sampling).  Sampling will include some oversampling from areas with a high proportion of seniors.   We will also segment populations aged 65 and older to determine whether there were differential changes in attitudes with a group that might be most concerned about these changes, particularly since this was specifically linked to the Medicare population.

Results:   This study is in progress, but preliminary information is available.  Sarah Palin picked up and used the term death panel on 07 Aug 2009 in a Facebook post.  Since then there have been a minimum of 6,905 articles that mention death panels.   Over time the tenor of reporting changed to more balanced and nuanced coverage as critics attempted to discredit early claims.  Research suggests that sometimes repeating a sensational claim can legitimize it even when the goal is to counteract its impact. 

Conclusions:   Conclusions from this study will be drawn when research is completed in early summer. 

Implications for research and/or practice:  Public Health communicators and policy makers will gain insight into how public opinion has been formed on specific health care issues.  Further, they will be introduced to a methodology to better understand how public attitudes toward healthcare reform and related public health issues are influenced.  The comparative effectiveness of live polling data to media coverage is a methodology that could be used to explore other health topics. This can contribute to more effective public communication planning.