Researchers analyzing nearly 10,000 U.K. news articles found that Type 1 diabetes is often portrayed through medical and biological narratives, whereas Type 2 diabetes coverage frequently emphasizes lifestyle and personal responsibility while overlooking broader social and economic factors that shape disease risk and management.
Study: Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in the UK press: A diachronic corpus-based analysis. Image Credit: Maya Kruchankova / Shutterstock.com
In a recent study published in PLOS ONE, researchers examined how the United Kingdom news media represent diabetes and whether this language contributes to misunderstanding or stigma.
How the media impacts diabetes perceptions
Current estimates suggest that an estimated 828 million adults worldwide were living with diabetes in 2022. Diabetes, a chronic condition involving impaired insulin production or use, can be further characterized as types 1 or 2 (T1D and T2D), each with distinct causes and management pathways.
Media outlets shape how the public understands scientific issues by increasing awareness and accessibility of notable discoveries. Inappropriate media commentary that oversimplifies, sensationalizes, or misrepresents scientific findings can lead to misinformation, public distrust, and stigma.
Diabetes, particularly T2D, is often stigmatized as the result of irresponsible behaviors or overindulgence due to its associations with physical inactivity and greater body weight. These negative sentiments contribute to feelings of shame, guilt, and regret among diabetics, increasing the risk of disease mismanagement, diagnosis concealment, and self-limiting behaviors.
There remains an urgent need to promote awareness of T1D and T2D while reducing media misconceptions and stigma. To this end, national diabetes organizations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia have published media guidelines to improve language use around diabetes.
Study examined language patterns across major UK newspapers
The researchers of the current study conducted a corpus-based discourse analysis to investigate how diabetes is represented in the U.K. media using the Diabetes UK News Media Corpus, comprising 9,673 news articles and nearly 10 million words. Articles were obtained from 10 print and online U.K. newspapers using the Nexis Lexis database.
Using built-in Nexis Lexis filters and a Python script, the researchers removed duplicates, financial reports, and irrelevant material within the original corpus. Thereafter, the corpus was divided into two separate corpora, T1D and T2D, using built-in filters and a Python script.
Sketch Engine, an advanced linguistic software, was used to identify collocations, which are defined as words that frequently appear alongside ‘diabetes.’ In the current study, collocates were aligned and grouped into theme categories, including preferred versus dispreferred language, references to diabetes types, mentions of other diseases, and descriptions of causes or management. This combination of quantitative and qualitative analytical methods enabled researchers to identify trends over time and clarify how language influences public perception of medical conditions such as diabetes.
How the U.K. news portrays T1D and T2D
Between 2020 and 2024, news coverage of T1D and T2D increased; however, substantially more content was dedicated to T2D than to T1D. Diabetes was often mentioned alongside other conditions like obesity, cancer, or cardiovascular diseases. While medically justified, these associations may imply inaccurate causal relationships.
Terminology like ‘sufferer,’ ‘patient,’ and ‘diabetic,’ all of which are dispreferred language, were more frequently used in T1D news coverage. This stronger medical discourse surrounding T1D was further enhanced by frequent associations with both viral and biological factors, rather than with societal factors.
T1D is construed as an individual medical problem, and those individuals with the condition are presented with the responsibility to take control of their health.
In contrast, T2D reporting frequently emphasized lifestyle factors like diet, obesity, and physical inactivity, suggesting individual responsibility for disease development. By emphasizing these factors associated with T2D, media outlets indirectly place the responsibility of mitigating the risk on an individual’s free will, rather than also considering broader social determinants of health, such as income, food security, or healthcare access, that may contribute to disease development and management.
The study also noted that medicalized reporting may help reduce moral blame associated with T2D by emphasizing biological and clinical aspects of the condition rather than personal failure alone. However, the researchers observed that discussions of societal and economic factors influencing diabetes risk and management were comparatively limited in news coverage.
Experts call for socially informed diabetes coverage
News media are advised to use clear, guideline-supported language when discussing diabetes and to explicitly distinguish between T1D and T2D. In addition to avoiding wording that may reinforce stigma, blame, or misconceptions, careful consideration of both medical and social factors involved in the development and management of diabetes could also reduce negative stereotypes surrounding this disease.
The researchers also recommend taking greater care when discussing diabetes alongside other medical conditions to avoid unintended implications of causality or similarity.
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