The media and public health: where next for critical analysis?

Henderson, Lesley; Hilton, Shona

doi:10.1080/09581596.2018.1482663

Cited by 34 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(10 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In the context of public health debates, ‘media production needs to be considered in its broadest terms, not simply as ‘discourse’ manufactured in newsrooms, television studios and other media institutions, but as the outcome of specific networks, occupational practices, technologies and structural contexts with embedded ideological assumptions’ (Henderson and Hilton, 2018: 373). During a virus outbreak in particular, the role of the news media can be especially critical in disseminating specific terminology not only about the virus and the disease, but also in connection with public health measures for prevention or contention (for example, hygiene, drugs, lockdown, quarantine, etc.).…”

Section: Disease and Virus Naming By The News Media: A Global Crisis mentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutional and news media denominations of COVID-19 and its causative virus: Between naming policies and naming politics

Prieto-Ramos

Pei²,

Cheng

2020

Discourse & Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

From the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic, it became clear that the practices of naming the disease, its nature and its handling by the health authorities, the news media and the politicians had social and ideological implications. This article presents a sociosemiotic study of such practices as reflected in a corpus of headlines of eight newspapers of four countries in the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. After an analysis of the institutional naming choices of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, the study focuses on the changes in newspapers’ naming patterns following the WHO’s announcement of the disease name on 11 February 2020. A subsequent political controversy related to naming in the United States is then examined in reports of The New York Times and The Washington Post as a further illustration of how public discourses and perceptions can rapidly evolve in the context of health crises.

show abstract

Section: Disease and Virus Naming By The News Media: A Global Crisis mentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutional and news media denominations of COVID-19 and its causative virus: Between naming policies and naming politics

Prieto-Ramos

Pei²,

Cheng

2020

Discourse & Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…1 Furthermore, the dynamic between scientific publications and wider media is multi-directional and complex, especially in the current era of the Internet and use of social media, as outlined above. It has been increasingly recognized that media narratives such as these are processes that construct meanings rather than merely being reflections of scientific reality (Henderson and Hilton 2018). Furthermore, the film "Fed Up" seems to have influenced subsequent media coverage of topics on the health effects of sugar consumption (Rezapour and Diesner 2014).…”

Section: The (Re)-emergence Of the Sugar As Toxic Narrativementioning

confidence: 99%

From science to sensational headline: a critical examination of the “sugar as toxic” narrative

Hervik

Thurston

2021

Food, Culture & Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the past few decades, some scholars have labeled sugar "toxic" and portrayed it as the primary cause of diet-related health conditions. In this paper, this sugar as toxic rhetoric -which is widely echoed in the public sphere -is critically examined in terms of its physiological basis and wider social consequences. We argue that the claims of the narrative are oversimplified and partly based on a particular interpretation of scientific studies. By exaggerating the hazards of sugar consumption often using emotive language, the claims generate public concern about it being a threat to their health, which, in the process, contributes to a sense of moral panic. The resultant anxieties give emphasis to feelings of individual responsibility for regulating sugar consumption, which can further generate feelings of guilt and shame especially among those with limited agency for altering their consumption. We contend that the science on which the sugar as toxic narrative builds tends to be ideologically driven in a way that deflects attention away from a more serious debate about food environments. We conclude that the challenges are considerable for those whose role it is to communicate public health messages, especially if the issue is complex and the science incomplete.

show abstract

“…Certainly there are challenges in terms of access, and media industries can be cautious of researchers (Chris Paterson, David Lee, Anamik Saha, and Anna Zoellner 2016). However, analysing the processes of media production can provide insight into how culture, power, and the political economy shape health-related media (Henderson et al 2018). Hendersen has explored the process of production fictional representations of mental health on television through interviews with industry professionals and story consultants (Lesley Henderson 2018;Henderson et al 2018).…”

Section: Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, analysing the processes of media production can provide insight into how culture, power, and the political economy shape health-related media (Henderson et al 2018). Hendersen has explored the process of production fictional representations of mental health on television through interviews with industry professionals and story consultants (Lesley Henderson 2018;Henderson et al 2018). Her work provides insights into the power dynamics and the processes of negotiation within media production and some of the limitations experienced by mental health experts in working with the media to produce progressive representations.…”

Section: Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childbirth on television: a scoping review and recommendations for further research

Roberts

Benedictis

2019

Feminist Media Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Factual and reality television shows that depict childbirth are both commercially successful and controversial. Social debate focuses on the potential implications for women's experiences of birth and their health. This scoping review critically analyses published literature to assess the state of knowledge about the influence of factual and reality television on the expectations and experiences of childbearing women, and to make recommendations for future research. Recognising the complexity of researching the relationship between the media and lived health experiences, we critically engage with the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the published literature and its substantive findings. We argue that the field is limited by a disconnect between media studies and health studies. Feminist approaches have both criticised the medicalised view of childbirth seen to dominate mainstream media, and the valorisation of "natural childbirth" as a standard which also disciplines women. Very little research has engaged with pregnant women's views and experiences. Future research should engage more rigorously with diverse women who are pregnant or have recently become mothers. Recommendations for future research also include transdisciplinary collaboration for methodological innovation, research about television production processes and research that takes social media and the changing nature of television into account.

show abstract

The media and public health: where next for critical analysis?

Cited by 34 publications

References 16 publications

Institutional and news media denominations of COVID-19 and its causative virus: Between naming policies and naming politics

Institutional and news media denominations of COVID-19 and its causative virus: Between naming policies and naming politics

From science to sensational headline: a critical examination of the “sugar as toxic” narrative

Childbirth on television: a scoping review and recommendations for further research

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About