Death and Illness as Depicted in the Media
Death and Illness as Depicted in the Media
Introduction: The media may affect how illness is perceived, in terms of its prevalence, severity and outcomes. The media also influences our perception of death and leads to an overestimation of incidence of some causes of mortality. Articles depicting medical subjects may not be in-depth and are often influenced by non-medical issues. The media has both a positive impact on the population, in providing opportunistic health information, and a negative impact, causing an overestimation of severity and incidence of certain diseases. This article aims to assess if media reporting of illness and death represents national statistics.
Method: The 10 most common daily read UK newspapers were assessed for articles relating to the most common causes of UK mortality. The searches were performed via each newspaper's online search facility over a 12-month period. Where appropriate, media friendly terms were used as search terms.
Results: A total of 18,482 pertinent articles were found relating to the most common causes of death in the UK. When the reportage of illness was compared with the actual incidence cerebrovascular accidents and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were under-represented in the media, with ratios 0.31 and 0.01 to 1, respectively. Flu/pneumonia, prostate cancer, dementia and breast cancer all have a large media profile, with ratios of 5.52, 3.06, 4.09 and 4.9 to 1, respectively.
Conclusion: The media has a significant impact on our perceptions of illness and death. This may influence how patients seek medical attention and their concerns at consultation. Strategies to improve the educational content of the media may enhance the dissemination of health information via this resource.
The media is considered to be the most important source of health information for the general public. The media decides on what issues to present to the population and the level of importance attached to them, influencing public understanding and awareness of disease. Therefore, the media may affect how illness is perceived, in terms of its prevalence, severity and outcomes. In terms of what is reported by the print media, articles tend to be on subjects that are prevalent, relevant and of interest to the public. Articles depicting medical subjects may not be in depth and are often influenced by non-medical issues, such as celebrity status or significant public events. Thus, there may be a discrepancy in the reportage of illness compared with prevalence of actual disease. The media also influences our perception of death and, in particular, leads to an overestimation of incidence of some causes of mortality. Estimations of causes of death by the public often bear little relation to official statistics, but do correlate with the frequency of print media reporting. This observation manifests itself as an underestimation of the incidence of common causes of death and an overestimation or rarer causes. Previous work into the investigation of print media reporting has noted both a poor relationship between the frequency of reporting deaths and mortality rates.
The passive nature of information dissemination coupled with easily understandable articles (unlike many patient information leaflets) may be a key factor in raising the overall awareness of disease by the media. This opportunistic provision of health information is in addition to the advertisements from both government-funded institutions and charitable organisations. Moreover, policies of media advocacy, which entail the deliberate use by groups to advance specific causes or concerns, may influence disease coverage. Focused media-advertising strategies on a particular disease have been shown to increase public awareness of that disease and improve patient knowledge. However, the media reportage of illness can induce negative health consequences. Media exposure is a strong predictor of post-traumatic stress syndrome and stress reactions after significant events, even in populations not directly affected (e.g. after the 11th September attack in New York). Moreover, certain events trigger amplification in perceived risk which is not ultimately accompanied by a commensurate risk increase [e.g. Chernobyl disaster, cancer risk from cell phones, and anthrax outbreaks.]
The aims of this paper are to assess the reportage of the 10 most common causes of death in the UK by the 10 most read daily newspapers and to compare the frequency of mortality in the print media with incidence of disease.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Introduction: The media may affect how illness is perceived, in terms of its prevalence, severity and outcomes. The media also influences our perception of death and leads to an overestimation of incidence of some causes of mortality. Articles depicting medical subjects may not be in-depth and are often influenced by non-medical issues. The media has both a positive impact on the population, in providing opportunistic health information, and a negative impact, causing an overestimation of severity and incidence of certain diseases. This article aims to assess if media reporting of illness and death represents national statistics.
Method: The 10 most common daily read UK newspapers were assessed for articles relating to the most common causes of UK mortality. The searches were performed via each newspaper's online search facility over a 12-month period. Where appropriate, media friendly terms were used as search terms.
Results: A total of 18,482 pertinent articles were found relating to the most common causes of death in the UK. When the reportage of illness was compared with the actual incidence cerebrovascular accidents and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were under-represented in the media, with ratios 0.31 and 0.01 to 1, respectively. Flu/pneumonia, prostate cancer, dementia and breast cancer all have a large media profile, with ratios of 5.52, 3.06, 4.09 and 4.9 to 1, respectively.
Conclusion: The media has a significant impact on our perceptions of illness and death. This may influence how patients seek medical attention and their concerns at consultation. Strategies to improve the educational content of the media may enhance the dissemination of health information via this resource.
Introduction
The media is considered to be the most important source of health information for the general public. The media decides on what issues to present to the population and the level of importance attached to them, influencing public understanding and awareness of disease. Therefore, the media may affect how illness is perceived, in terms of its prevalence, severity and outcomes. In terms of what is reported by the print media, articles tend to be on subjects that are prevalent, relevant and of interest to the public. Articles depicting medical subjects may not be in depth and are often influenced by non-medical issues, such as celebrity status or significant public events. Thus, there may be a discrepancy in the reportage of illness compared with prevalence of actual disease. The media also influences our perception of death and, in particular, leads to an overestimation of incidence of some causes of mortality. Estimations of causes of death by the public often bear little relation to official statistics, but do correlate with the frequency of print media reporting. This observation manifests itself as an underestimation of the incidence of common causes of death and an overestimation or rarer causes. Previous work into the investigation of print media reporting has noted both a poor relationship between the frequency of reporting deaths and mortality rates.
The passive nature of information dissemination coupled with easily understandable articles (unlike many patient information leaflets) may be a key factor in raising the overall awareness of disease by the media. This opportunistic provision of health information is in addition to the advertisements from both government-funded institutions and charitable organisations. Moreover, policies of media advocacy, which entail the deliberate use by groups to advance specific causes or concerns, may influence disease coverage. Focused media-advertising strategies on a particular disease have been shown to increase public awareness of that disease and improve patient knowledge. However, the media reportage of illness can induce negative health consequences. Media exposure is a strong predictor of post-traumatic stress syndrome and stress reactions after significant events, even in populations not directly affected (e.g. after the 11th September attack in New York). Moreover, certain events trigger amplification in perceived risk which is not ultimately accompanied by a commensurate risk increase [e.g. Chernobyl disaster, cancer risk from cell phones, and anthrax outbreaks.]
The aims of this paper are to assess the reportage of the 10 most common causes of death in the UK by the 10 most read daily newspapers and to compare the frequency of mortality in the print media with incidence of disease.
