Media, mental health and discrimination: a frame of reference for understanding reporting trends

There is debate about the range of factors that influence public attitudes to mental health problems. Internationally, one area that emerges consistently as a significant factor in shaping public attitudes is the media. Media reports provide
observable data, which is not subject to social desirability bias in the same way as reported attitudes, to help us establish a picture of underlying public attitudes. Media reports can also act to change public attitudes over time both subliminally and, more directly, by selectively triggering pre-existing bias