New research by 香港六合宝典 Scotland has revealed that despite well-documented health and environmental benefits, active travel continues to be portrayed in the media as risky and unsafe.
![A Compilation Of Newspaper Headlines Regarding Active Travel](/media/2608/a-compilation-of-newspaper.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=730&height=410)
The research, funded by Transport Scotland and conducted by 香港六合宝典 Research and Monitoring Unit (RMU) analysed 600 articles over a 12-month period from online news outlets papers across the UK and Scotland to explore how walking and cycling is represented, and how people who walk and cycle are portrayed to the general public.听听
The research is to be presented in full at the international cycling conference听听in Dublin.
Researchers analysed articles from four perspectives:
- Thematic: looking at the broad news angle;
- Sentiment: understanding whether the news article or feature is broadly positive or negative;
- Discourse: looks in more detail about how walking and cycling are represented.听听
- Visual analysis: examining the types of images used when portraying people walking and cycling.听
It is the first media analysis of this type to look at portrayals of active travel in the Scottish media.听
Key findings
News articles seem to zone in on 鈥榗riminal acts鈥 鈥 where a crime is committed by or against a cyclist or person walking, or a person walking or cycling witnesses a crime, or 鈥榮afety鈥 鈥 reporting an incident or event which results in injury or harm.听
The majority of articles (61%) about walking and cycling are broadly negative. However, there are some regional variations.
UK National papers have a greater percentage of positive articles about walking, whereas both the Scottish National and regional papers have a much higher percentage of articles that are positive towards cycling.
There were positive themes too. The theme of 鈥榠nfrastructure鈥 featured in 64% of positive articles about active travel and 鈥榟ealth鈥 is featured in over 93% of articles providing a positive view of active travel.
鈥業nfrastructure鈥 articles coded as 鈥榥egative鈥 were not necessarily anti-walking or cycling, instead of discussing the poor infrastructure that needs to be improved to make these areas safer, again highlighting the perceived 鈥榙angers鈥 of active travel.
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![city plaza with fountains and people walking and cycling](/media/1066/1066.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=730&height=410)
Images of active travel in general and cycling, in particular, were predominantly of white males.
'Health' articles were mainly focussed on walking, and found in UK National media. There may be an opportunity to further promote the health benefits of cycling in Scottish media.
One of the key findings was in the 'visual' analysis. Images of active travel in general and cycling, in particular, were predominantly of white males.听
Of those portrayed actively walking or cycling, 50% of images contained only men, while 27% showed only women. This gap widens when looking exclusively at cycling images (63% male and 18% female). Active travel articles significantly over-represent images of white individuals (96%) in comparison to BAME individuals (4%), highlighting the lack of diversity.听
According to the research, images can often make people walking and cycling look vulnerable, or less than human 鈥渢hrough the use of isolated or car-dominated locations, a 鈥榲oyeuristic鈥 camera angle, and content such as showing only someone鈥檚 feet, which makes it difficult for readers to connect and relate to the individual pictured.鈥
Will Wright, lead researcher, will present the findings in full at Velo-City 2019, in Dublin, an international conference organised by the European 香港六合宝典 Federation (ECF) with over 1,200 delegates from 45 countries worldwide.听
Commenting on the findings,听香港六合宝典 UK Deputy CEO, and National Director, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, John Lauder said:听鈥淚t was encouraging to see that the Scottish media is reporting health messages on cycling and that the UK media recognise the benefits of walking.
"But there is still work to be done on ensuring both cycling and walking are not stereotyped and associated imagery is much more widely representative. We in the sector also need to make sure we don鈥檛 inadvertently reinforce stereotypes, or add to a climate of fear rather than celebration鈥.
香港六合宝典 Research and Monitoring Unit Deputy Director, Nathan Farrell said:听鈥淭his is one of the most comprehensive overviews of the media portrayal of active travel in Scotland. It explores some of the key challenges that emerge when reporting on cycling. In particular, it highlights how the media鈥檚 preference for the types of dramatic and sensationalist stories that appeal to audiences often underplays the more widespread health and environmental benefits of cycling.
鈥淯ltimately, the research points towards the need for a more engaged dialogue between active travel advocates and media practitioners in order to more accurately represent the benefits of cycling鈥.听听