ASSIGNMENT 3

Title: An analysis of media items and its impact on Australian Indigenous people’s health and wellbeing issues.

Value: 40 %

Length: up to 1500 words

Due Date: Monday Week 12

BACKGROUND TO TASK:

According to Stoneham, Goodman and Daube (2014), one factor impacting on the relationship of Indigenous Australians with mainstream society is the media portrayal of Indigenous people and issues, in this unit the issue is health. These authors’ examined media portrayals of Indigenous Australians’ public health issues in selected media over a 12-month period.

Before starting assessment 3 read the article titled “The Portrayal of indigenous health in selected Australian media” that you can find in a CDU library search. Notice the comments in the notes and discussion section. Balvin and Kashima (2012) and Larson, Gillies, Howard and Coffin (2007) cited in Stoneham, Goodman and Daube (2014) note that that negative news reporting impacts on the self –esteem Australian Indigenous people and perpetuates Indigenous stereotypes within mainstream society. Larson et al., argue that this is discrimination and a determinant of health and that until change occurs in the perception of the dominant Australian culture, public health, education and employment opportunities will be at risk for Indigenous Australians.

This assignment draws on the work of Stoneham, Goodman and Daube (2014) to provide a framework for you to examine current health and well-being issues related to the health of Australian Indigenous peoples.

This assignment relates to the four learning outcomes for this unit.

AIM:

To explore current health issues affecting the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians by examining media items and identifying how media is used to report Australian Indigenous peoples’ health issues

 

TASK:

1. Explore a range of media for news items related to Indigenous Australian’s health. This can include, news items in daily papers, journals, television or radio, websites, magazines. You will need to provide a link to your articles.

 

2. Choose three items about one of the following topics: That is, three items about nutrition, three items about mental health or three items about smoking.

Nutrition

Mental Health

Smoking

 

3. Read the article, analyse and make notes guided by the following criteria:

A)  Assess each article according to negative, positive or neutral qualities as per Stoneham, Goodman and Daube(2014)p.3.

b) Link the issues as presented in the topics with the unit learning outcomes.

This assignment is worth 40% of the total assessment for this subject

Hsc203 Indigenous Health Perspectives