Table 1
Distribution of news reports (n = 525).
| No. | Variable | N | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Country of report | ||
| High and very high income countries | 131 | 25 | |
| Low–middle-income countries | 394 | 75 | |
| 2 | Content of report | ||
| Positive | |||
| Discuss the government action | 259 | 49.3 | |
| Discuss the expert opinion | 191 | 36.4 | |
| Discuss the psychology of PB | 108 | 20.6 | |
| Discuss about the rumour* | 113 | 21.5 | |
| Suggest remedial measures | 97 | 18.5 | |
| Mention the impact of PB | 373 | 71 | |
| Negative | |||
| Title of news post refers to PB | 525 | 96.6 | |
| Mention the cause of PB | 396 | 75.4 | |
| Show the picture or image of PB | 327 | 62.3 | |
| Refer to similar incident elsewhere or in the past | 163 | 31 | |
| Media blame the public | 138 | 26.3 | |
| Media blame people involved in business | 49 | 9.3 | |
| Media dramatize PB | 46 | 8.7 | |
| Media blame the government | 42 | 8 | |
| 3 | Search engine | ||
| Bing | 168 | 32 | |
| Yahoo | 110 | 20.9 | |
| 101 | 19.3 | ||
| Others | 146 | 27.7 | |
| Total | 525 | 100 |
Table 2
The association between content of reported news on PB and the Human Development Index of countries.
| Country Human Development Index | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low–Middle Income (n, %) | High Income (n, %) | OR (95% CI) | x2 | p-value | |
| Content of report | |||||
| Positive | |||||
| Discuss the government action | 71 (54.2) | 188 (47.7) | 1.2 (0.8–1.9) | 1.65 | 0.19 |
| Discuss the expert opinion | 58 (44.3) | 133 (33.8) | 1.55 (1.01–2.37) | 4.7 | 0.03* |
| Discuss the psychology of PB | 19 (14.5) | 89 (22.6) | 0.5 (0.3–1.01) | 3.93 | 0.047 |
| Discuss about the rumour* | 42 (32.1) | 71 (18) | 2.14 (1.33–3.43) | 11.4 | 0.0001* |
| Suggest remedial measures | 34 (26) | 64 (16.2) | 1.80 (1.08–2.96) | 6.11 | 0.013 |
| Mention the impact of PB | 113 (86.3) | 260 (66) | 3.23 (1.85–5.89) | 19.64 | 0.0001* |
| Negative | |||||
| Title of news post refers to PB | 130 (99.2) | 377 (95.7) | 5.86 (0.89–246.7) | 3.74 | 0.053 |
| Mention the cause of PB | 115 (87.8) | 281 (71.3) | 2.89 (1.61–5.45) | 14.3 | 0.0001* |
| Show the photo of PB | 73 (55.7) | 254 (64.5) | 0.69 (0.45–1.05) | 3.2 | 0.07 |
| Refers to similar incident elsewhere or in the past | 28 (21.37) | 135 (34.3) | 1.91 (1.18–3.17 | 7.63 | 0.005* |
| Media blame the public | 42 (32.1) | 96 (24.4) | 1.46 (0.92–2.30) | 3 | 0.083 |
| Media blame people involved in business | 18 (13.7) | 31 (7.9) | 1.8 (0.94–3.58) | 4.01 | 0.045 |
| Media dramatize PB | 8 (6.1) | 38 (9.6) | 0.60 (0.23–1.37) | 1.54 | 0.21 |
| Media blame the government | 15 (11.5) | 27 (6.8) | 1.75 (0.8–3.55) | 2.82 | 0.09 |