Analysing the ethics of weight-related news through the lens of journalism codes

Abstract

Overweight and obesity are significant health issues for Australians. Fat people make up the majority of the population, yet they experience significant discrimination. Analyses of weight-related news demonstrate that blame for obesity is most often laid at the feet of fat people, despite a large body of evidence demonstrating the power of environmental drivers of obesity beyond individual control. There is growing criticism of how news frames obesity and illustrates news with ‘headless fatties’. This study is the first to analyse the ethics of reporting obesity using current journalists’ codes as the analytical framework. It reports an original ethical analysis of a unique dataset of weight-related news from a moment in history when obesity was framed as a crisis and coverage was unprecedented. Using the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) code of ethics as an analytical framework, the extent to which coverage meets standards of journalism ethics and professionalism and performs the watchdog role is interrogated. The analysis identifies how an opportunity to highlight for the public the power and significance of those drivers of weight gain beyond individual control was briefly seized and then dropped in the face of the dominant discourse of individual responsibility. Despite numerous calls to improve reporting of obesity and representations of people of size, the news media do too little to hold industry and government to account, and the paucity of voices of people of size suggests a lack of opportunity for reply. Strategies for a more ethical approach to obesity news are offered.