Kim Walsh-Childers
Professor/Chair | University of Florida
Gainesville, FL, UNITED STATES
Kim Walsh-Childers' research focuses include news coverage of health issues and mass media effects on individual health and health policy.
Biography
Kim Walsh-Childers' primary teaching areas are journalism/mass media ethics, and a graduate seminar in mass media and health. She is the chair of IRB-02, which is the protection of human subjects committee dealing with social, behavioral, and education research. Her research focuses on news coverage of health issues, mass media effects on individual health and health policy, and the relationship between mass media content and adolescent sexual beliefs and behavior. Her work has been published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Newspaper Research Journal, Communication Research, Pediatrics, AIDS Education and Prevention, and the Journal of Adolescent Health Care.
Areas of Expertise (6)
Science Communication
Health Communication
Ethics
Editing
Professional Responsibility
Reporting
Media Appearances (3)
Kim Walsh-Childers Comments on the Impact of News Coverage of Tragedies in the U.S.
UF College of Journalism and Communications online
2023-01-30
Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Journalism professor, is quoted in “Hard News: When Journalists Cover Tragedy” posted on turnto23.com on Jan. 26. The story focuses on National News Literacy Week, a week dedicated to understanding how journalism happens and how it impacts both the people that consume it and those that produce it. This year, the focus is also on how the nation is dealing with multiple mass shootings and the news coverage the incidents receive.
Kim Walsh-Childers Comments on Florida Surgeon General’s Appearance on Controversial Podcast
UF College of Journalism and Communications radio
2022-10-24
Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Journalism Professor, is quoted in “Florida Surgeon General Touts Book on Show That Backs QAnon Conspiracy Theory” published in the Tampa Bay Times on Oct. 21. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo recently appeared on the X22 Report, a far-right podcast known for sharing QAnon-related conspiracy theories and misinformation, to promote his new book about public health leadership.
Kim Walsh-Childers Comments on Criticism of Pandemic Media Coverage
UF College of Journalism and Communications online
2021-08-06
University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Journalism Professor Kim Walsh-Childers was quoted in “White House Voices Frustrations Over Pandemic Media Coverage,” published in The Hill on Aug. 4, 2021. The article discusses the Biden Administration’s criticism of media coverage of new guidance on masks and COVID-19 breakthrough cases among vaccinated Americans.
Articles (3)
Tweets That Matter: Exploring the Solutions to Maternal Mortality in the United States Discussed by Advocacy Organizations on Twitter
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public HealthDiane Ezeh Aruah, et. al
2023-04-24
Abstract This study investigated maternal mortality solutions mentioned on Twitter by maternal health advocacy organizations in the United States. Using qualitative content analysis, we examined tweets from 20 advocacy organizations and found that the majority of the tweets focused on policy, healthcare, community, and individual solutions.
Costs, Evidence, Context and Values: Journalists’ and Policy Experts’ Recommendations for U.S. Health Policy Coverage
Health CommunicationKim Walsh-Childers, Jennifer Baddock
2021-05-03
Health policy plays a critical role in determining a state’s or nation’s overall population health, and health system change has been a priority for a majority of Americans for at least a decade. News coverage can influence health policy development, but little research has examined the quality of that coverage, in part because no consensus exists regarding what information health policy stories should include.
Restoring Trust in Journalism: An Education Prescription
Journalism & Mass Communication EducatorKatherine Reed, et. al
2020-01-07
The practice of journalism has long been based on the premise that a receptive audience awaits the content and that citizens—as participants in a democracy—will use the news to make sound decisions. Yet mainstream journalism has lost much of its audience to purveyors of disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation, a situation that has grown more perilous with the widespread embrace of social media tools in all their sophistication.
