Representations of Obesity and COVID-19 in Leading Stock Photography Websites

Abstract

AbstractEmerging research on the news representation of obesity and Covid-19 has found that obese individuals are overwhelmingly presented in stigmatising ways in news article texts, but the visual representation of obesity and Covid-19 has been understudied – even in the increasingly ubiquitous in the news stock photographs. This study analysed the representation of obesity and Covid-19 in 111 editorial stock photographs from Adobe Stock, Getty Images and Shutterstock using visual content analysis and semantic field analysis. In contrast to past research which has found well over 65% of the analysed photographs to be stigmatising, only slightly over half of the analysed editorial stock photographs were stigmatising. Potentially destigmatising associations of obesity with attractive appearance and positive emotions were also present.DisclaimerAs a service to authors and researchers we are providing this version of an accepted manuscript (AM). Copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proofs will be undertaken on this manuscript before final publication of the Version of Record (VoR). During production and pre-press, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal relate to these versions also. Additional informationNotes on contributorsDimitrinka AtanasovaDr Dimitrinka Atanasova is a Lecturer at the Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University, drawing on theories and methods from applied linguistics, media & communication studies, and sociology. She researches health and science communication and developments in news journalism (currently, constructive journalism) and is a Founding Member of the British Association for Applied Linguistics Special Interest Group on Health & Science Communication. She has previously worked as a Media Consultant and held research positions at Queen Mary, University of London (School of Languages, Linguistics & Film), University of Sheffield (Information School) and University of Leicester (School of Media, Communication & Sociology). She continues to do occasional media consultancy work for private, public and third sector clients. E-mail: d.atanasova@lancaster.ac.uk