Quality of Reporting on the Vegetative State in Italian Newspapers. The Case of Eluana Englaro

Latronico, Nicola; Manenti, Ottavia; Baini, Luca; Rasulo, Frank

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018706

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Through these two frames, more than one‐third of media discourse is making this an end‐of‐life issue. This evidence confirms previous media analyses (Latronico et al., 2011; Racine et al., 2008). In addition, our analysis deepens the end‐of‐life issue by highlighting its ethical implications.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Understanding a liminal condition: Comparing emerging representations of the “vegetative state”

Zulato

Montali

Bauer

2021

Euro J Social Psych

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Our research explored the social representations of the 'vegetative state' across different cultural (India, Italy, and the UK) and social milieus (left-leaning, right-leaning, and religious/tabloid newspapers). The aim was to discover how public discourse engages liminality between life and death. Qualitative and quantitative text analyses were conducted on news headlines and full-texts from British (n = 300), Indian (n = 300), and Italian (n = 300) newspapers published between January 1990 and June 2019. Our study shows three results: (a) the vegetative state is a potentially global issue that remains discussed with local timing and characteristics; (b) it is commonly represented in eight frames of different resonance across cultural milieus; (c) the news flows are organised on different dimensions (quality, political, and ideological). Results shed light on how liminality is discursively managed by the interplay of cultural resources and social positionings. In particular, this suggests a hitherto unrecognised function of the objectification process: personification as position-taking.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Understanding a liminal condition: Comparing emerging representations of the “vegetative state”

Zulato

Montali

Bauer

2021

Euro J Social Psych

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“…In 1976, her father's application to remove his daughter's ventilator was granted by the New Jersey Supreme Court. However, once removed, Quinlan survived for another 9 years in a vegetative state, drawing to the attention of the public the fact that “VS patients breathe spontaneously” (p. 6) 42. The parallels between this case and Coupland's novel are immediately clear: both patient and fictional counterpart enter coma after ingesting a cocktail of alcohol and Valium; both were in the habit of taking prescription drugs as part of an extreme dietary regime; both enter coma, and shortly thereafter, a prolonged vegetative state, maintaining and sustaining autonomous aspiration; the full name of Coupland's character is Karen Ann McNeil, the fictional equivalent of Karen Ann Quinlan.…”

Section: Girlfriend In A… Coma?mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Is shealive?Is she dead?’ Representations of chronic disorders of consciousness in Douglas Coupland'sGirlfriend in a Coma

Colbeck

2016

Med Humanities

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Depictions of coma have come to dominate literary and filmic texts over the last half-century, a phenomenon coinciding with advancements in medical technology that have led to remarkable increases in the survival rates of patients within chronic disorders of consciousness. Authors of coma fiction are preoccupied with the imagined subjective experience of coma, often creating complex, dream-like worlds from which the protagonist must escape if survival is to be achieved. However, such representations appear to conflict with medical case studies and patient narratives that reveal that most often, survivors of coma have no recollection of the coma itself. Providing a close reading D C Girlfriend in a Coma (1998) against the context of medical literature and diagnoses, this article examines how the coma patient is represented, often depicting the realities of a prolonged vegetative state, in contrast with other popular representations of coma. It explores Tzvetan Todorov), using the condition of coma as a metaphor for a postmodern existential crisis, whilst simultaneously employing mimetic techniques that raise important medical, ethical and philosophical questions surrounding the ontological status of the comatose patient. It is argued that coma fiction, even in its misrepresentation of the condition, can help us to engage with and interrogate how we think about chronic disorders of consciousness, thereby providing a valuable insight into our attitudes towards illness and mortality. THE COMA METAPHOR IN LITERATURE: AN INTRODUCTIONThe image of the chronic disorder of consciousness, coma, has pervaded literary and filmic texts over the last fifty years, leading to the production of a genre that I will coma fictionThe genre itself can be split broadly into two categories: interior and exterior coma narratives.Whereas the interior coma narrative focuses upon the imagined subjective experience of the coma patient, exterior coma fiction either represents the patient still within coma and the strains his condition has upon the personal relationships that he has outside of unconsciousness, or upon the survivor, and his reintegration into the world outside of coma. These sub-categories of coma fiction are not necessarily mutually exclusive with authors combining them in certain cases I L J THE STORY OF GIRLFRIEND IN A COMAGirlfriend in a Coma is centred upon the fate of Karen Ann McNeil who, after consuming a concoction of alcohol and Valium one night at a party during the late-1970s, subsequently collapses into coma. As I will discuss later, Coupland assimilates factual details from the real-life case of Karen Quinlan, a casualty of a chronic disorder of consciousness who was very much in the public eye during the 1970s and 1980s. I C , prior to becoming comatose, the fictional Karen reveals to her boyfriend, Richard, a prophetic vision F ed normal but had . She also predicts her own departure, and even her return from will go (p.11, p.28).Eventually, and as predicted, Karen emerges from her seventeen-year coma to...

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“…A staple device in fiction (films, TV drama and novels) is to have this patient deliver a coherent monologue (implying a fully functioning consciousness beneath the cloak of unconsciousness) and/or to suddenly ‘wake up’ – often with few outstanding neurological problems except perhaps some memory loss convenient to the plot ( Kitzinger & Kitzinger 2012 ). The factual news media often promote similar images and stories – sometimes presenting scientific inaccuracies and confusing use of terminology ( Bernat 2008 ; Latronico et al 2011 ; Racine et al 2008 ) and giving high profile coverage to very rare cases of patients who show some recovery long after clinicians had given up hope ( Fins et al 2007 ).…”

Section: What Are the ‘Vegetative’ And The ‘Minimally Conscious’ Statmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reporting consciousness in coma: media framing of neuro-scientific research, hope, and the response of families with relatives in vegetative and minimally conscious states

Samuel

Kitzinger

2013

JOMEC Journal

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This paper examines the public representation of, and family responses to, scientific studies into consciousness in coma-like states. We examine the publicity surrounding high-profile studies using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) on ‘vegetative’ or ‘minimally conscious’ patients and compare this with family views. Our findings show how, with a few notable exceptions, the research was presented as an amazing breakthrough offering a potential ‘voice’ and choice for patients and hope and comfort for their families. We argue that such representations ignored key limitations, evoked unrealistic visions of recovery, and promoted very narrow representations of family reactions. The comparison between public representations of the science and responses from families with experience of this issue highlights the complex social/medical world into which neurotechnologies intervene, and points to the absence of a range of patient/family perspectives in public discourse. We conclude with suggestions for how those promoting the research, and the journalists reporting its implications, could act to ensure more responsible coverage and enhance public debate.

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Quality of Reporting on the Vegetative State in Italian Newspapers. The Case of Eluana Englaro

Cited by 11 publications

References 50 publications

Understanding a liminal condition: Comparing emerging representations of the “vegetative state”

Understanding a liminal condition: Comparing emerging representations of the “vegetative state”

‘Is shealive?Is she dead?’ Representations of chronic disorders of consciousness in Douglas Coupland'sGirlfriend in a Coma

Reporting consciousness in coma: media framing of neuro-scientific research, hope, and the response of families with relatives in vegetative and minimally conscious states

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