Hope or Hype:Coverage by the News Media of Medical Advances
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Chang, Amy Ai-Mei
Abstract
The news media are an important source of information about medical advances, but there is concern that some coverage may be inaccurate and overly enthusiastic. This study investigates how the print news media represent stories on advances. It is based on a content analysis and a discourse analysis of 1274 newspaper articles that appeared between 2003 and 2008 from four major newspaper outlets in Taiwan. Stories were found to emphasize, and often exaggerate the benefits and implications of medical advances without adequate or complete information about the novelty, availability, other treatment options, quality of evidence, risks, complications, costs or the financial ties between study groups or experts and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The overly positive vision of medical advances is supported by the use of particular metaphors and hyperboles, accompanying illustrative material, such as testimonials and human interest stories, and constant reference to favorable sources. Stories were also found to be an extensively exploited channel for publicity and promotion among medical institutes and pharmaceutical companies. We hope through our examination of coverage of medical advances will lead all who engage in the dissemination of health news to reevaluate their practices to better serve a more informed health care population.
Subjects
medical news
health communication
media representation
content analysis
discourse analysis
SDGs
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