The coverage of prostate cancer and impotence in four popular men's magazines

International Journal of Men's Health, Summer, 2005 by William Hoon

Wright, W. (1975). Mass media as sources of medical information. Journal of Communication, 25(3), 171-173.

Yows, S.R. (1991, May). The role of perceived threat in reducing health knowledge gaps. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, Chicago, IL.

CODING SHEET

Magazine:
   1 GQ
   2 Esquire
   3 Ebony
   4 Men's Health

Date: Month and year of publication

Health issue:
   1 Impotence
   2 Prostate cancer
   3 Both

Thematic content:
   1 Reporting scientific study
   2 Offering information only
   3 Fictional account

The focus of the article:
   1 Prevention/Diagnosis oriented
   2 Treatment oriented
   3 Equally distributed between prevent/diagnosis and treatment
   4 Other

Reference to authoritative source:
   1 Yes
   2 No

Reference to Viagra[R]:
   1 Yes
   2 No

Reference to prostate education initiative:
   1 Yes
   2 No

Authorship--credentials:
   1 Not cited, staff
   2 Cited-medical professional
   3 Cited-professional writer
   4 Consumer/reader
   5 Other

Authorship--gender:
   1 Male
   2 Female

WILLIAM HOON

Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL

Table 1
Profile of Four Leading Men's Magazines

Title of       Frequency   Circulation     Percent        Percent
magazine                                 male readers      black
                                                        male readers

Esquire         Monthly       717,113       69.3%           4.8%

Ebony           Monthly     1,732,117       49.2%          32.0%

Gentleman's     Monthly       814,804       75.3%           9.5%
Quarterly
(GQ)

Men's Health   10 x yr.     1,718,319       83.3%          11.6%

Note. MRI (Mediamark Research, Inc.) Fall 2003 Media Demographics.

Table 2
Distribution of Magazine by Age of Male Readers

Age        Ebony         Esquire           GQ        Men's Health

18-24      19.4%          12.8%          20.4%          19.0%
25-34      19.8%          23.8%          32.9%          28.6%
35-44      24.9%          17.9%          27.9%          24.5%
45-54      18.2%          19.2%          11.0%          15.3%
55-64      11.5%          16.2%           6.3%           8.3%
65          6.2%          10.1%           1.5%           4.3%
Total       100%           100%           100%           100%

Note. MRI (Mediamark Research, Inc.) Fall 2003 Media Demographics.

Table 3
Number of Prostate Cancer and Impotence Articles
Published in Four U.S. Magazines from 1991 to 2000

Magazine title    Impotence   Prostate cancer

GQ                    4              5
Esquire               1              5
Ebony                 0              3
Men's Health         13             33
Total                18             46

Table 4
Number of Issue Topics in Articles Published
in Four U.S. Magazines from 1991 to 2000

Issue

Impotence                                  18
Prostate cancer                            42
Impotence and prostate cancer               4
Total                                      64

Table 5
Frequency of the Author's Credentials
in Articles Published in Four U.S.
Magazines from 1991 to 2000

Author's Credentials

Not-cited, staff                           10
Cited, medical professional                 1
Cited, professional writer                 53