Diabetes is a major health problem, both in Australia and world-wide. About 1.7 million Australians have a type of diabetes, with another 2 million estimated at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The yearly cost of diabetes is about $14.6 billion (Source: Diabetes Australia 2018). Public policy, research funding, the research agenda and community responses are all influenced by how diabetes features in the media.

This report summarises the results from a computer-assisted investigation of how the Australian news media write about diabetes. The research focussed on reporting in 12 national and metropolitan Australian newspapers over five years (2013-2017).