Objective: Media framing of health issues reflects public opinion and impacts readers' perceptions and behavior. This study examines how meditation - a recommended stress coping strategy for college students - is framed in campus newspapers from 1997-2018.
Participants: A total of 494 articles were analyzed.
Methods: Semantic network analysis was used to automatically detect frames and the longitudinal trend.
Results: Five major frames emerged: (1) building a meditation community within a campus community, (2) meditation benefits, (3) yoga for enhancing mind and body awareness, (4) meditation techniques, and (5) secularizing meditation on campus. There is a shift in coverage from interest in religion to secular views of health benefits throughout the years. Discussions of adverse effects that have emerged from the literature were entirely absent.
Conclusions: The trend of secularizing meditation practices on college campuses is evident. Emphasizing the techniques and benefits could encourage participation and build a learning community.
Keywords: Campus newspapers; framing; meditation; semantic network analysis.