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The public debate on obesity will turn on the question of who or what is responsible for causing and curing this emerging epidemic. Previous research suggests that public health problems become amenable to broad policy solutions when those problems can be reframed in systemic terms—specifically, in terms of involuntary risk, universal risk, environmental risk, and knowingly created risk. This article assesses the framing of obesity in news coverage since 1985 to determine whether obesity is being reframed in these terms. The data suggest that a vigorous frame contest is currently under way between arguments emphasizing personal responsibility for health and arguments emphasizing the social environment, including corporate and public policy. The evidence suggests that one of these frame dimensions (environmental risk) has moved decisively toward the systemic pole, while two frame dimensions (involuntary and knowingly created risk) have not moved toward the systemic pole, and the movement of the fourth dimension (risk to everyone) is uncertain.

The public debate on obesity will turn on the question of who or what is responsible for causing & curing this emerging epidemic. Previous research suggests that public health problems become amenable to broad policy solutions when those problems can be reframed in systemic terms -- specifically, in terms of involuntary risk, universal risk, environmental risk, & knowingly created risk. This article assesses the framing of obesity in news coverage since 1985 to determine whether obesity is being reframed in these terms. The data suggest that a vigorous frame contest is currently under way between arguments emphasizing personal responsibility for health & arguments emphasizing the social environment, including corporate & public policy. The evidence suggests that one of these frame dimensions (environmental risk) has moved decisively toward the systemic pole, while two frame dimensions (involuntary & knowingly created risk) have not moved toward the systemic pole, & the movement of the fourth dimension (risk to everyone) is uncertain. 2 Tables, 2 Figures, 46 References. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright 2004 by the President and the Fellows of Harvard College.]

The public debate on obesity will turn on the question of who or what is responsible for causing and curing this emerging epidemic. Previous research suggests that public health problems become amenable to broad policy solutions when those problems can be reframed in systemic terms-specifically, in terms of involuntary risk, universal risk, environmental risk, and knowingly created risk. This article assesses the framing of obesity in news coverage since 1985 to determine whether obesity is being reframed in these terms. The data suggest that a vigorous frame contest is currently under way between arguments emphasizing personal responsibility for health and arguments emphasizing the social environment, including corporate and public policy. The evidence suggests that one of these frame dimensions (environmental risk) has moved decisively toward the systemic pole, while two frame dimensions (involuntary and knowingly created risk) have not moved toward the systemic pole, and the movement of the fourth dimension (risk to everyone) is uncertain.

The process by which unexpected events acquire political significance is studied; specific attention is dedicated to determining the circumstances responsible for imbuing political import into the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School. Contemporary literature that has investigated how news media contribute to framing events, setting political agendas, & socially constructing public concerns is reviewed. Differences in the processes used by the news media to transform institutional news & unexpected events into public problems are highlighted. Five characteristics of unexpected events that encourage the news media to transform such occurrences into problem-defining events are then identified including the possibility that such events will produce dramatic narratives & draw the interest of important demographic groups. In demonstrating the process by which the Columbine High School shootings were crafted as a problem-defining event, it is stressed that two factors are responsible for the prolonged existence of such problems: the novelty of the problem & the problem's prospect of becoming part of an institution. Several recommendations for future research are also offered. 3 Tables, 1 Figure. J. W. Parker