Spreading Ebola Panic: Newspaper and Social Media Coverage of the 2014 Ebola Health Crisis

During times of hot crises, traditional news organizations have historically contributed to public fear and panic by emphasizing risks and uncertainties. The degree to which digital and social media platforms contribute to this panic is essential to consider in the new media landscape. This research examines news coverage of the 2014 Ebola crisis, exploring differences in presentation between newspaper coverage and news shared on the social news platform Reddit. Results suggest that news shared on Reddit amplified panic and uncertainty surrounding Ebola, while traditional newspaper coverage was significantly less likely to produce panic-inducing coverage.     

社交媒体环境下的医院危机管理

社交媒体环境下医院危机传播的范围、速度大幅提升,对医院危机管理提出严峻挑战。本文重点分析社交媒体对医院的影响和带来的挑战,结合医院危机管理特点和危机管理理论,对应对策略进行深入讨论。     

Agricultural Media Coverage of Farm Safety: Review of the Literature

Agricultural media merit increased attention in addressing dynamic changes in safety aspects of one of the nation’s most hazardous industries. Changes in farming, such as larger-scale, new “niche” enterprises and new technologies, bring new forms of risk to the safety of those who live and work on farms and ranches. At the same time, traditional agricultural media—commercial firms that publish farm periodicals and commercial radio/television stations and networks that provide farm programming—are changing dramatically. In the face of media convergence, these enterprises provide an increasing menu of agricultural information services delivered by print, radio, and television, plus a host of new electronic media. This review of literature addressed the role and importance of commercial agricultural media in the United States, the scope and pattern of their safety coverage, and the opportunities they represent. The review involved searches of 14 bibliographic databases, as well as reference lists of relevant studies and contacts with farm safety experts. Analysis of 122 documents suggested that limited focus has been directed to the role of commercial agricultural media in safety decisions on US farms. Findings revealed that they continue to serve an efficient, early-stage role in creating awareness and interest, providing information, forming attitudes, and stirring consideration of farm safety. Potentials are seen as expanding through the interactive features of social media and other new services offered by these media firms. Findings also identified research needs, 100 farm safety topics for reporting, and opportunities for strengthening safety coverage by commercial agricultural media.     

新媒体时代医院危机公关策略

目的 分析制定新媒体环境下医院危机公关策略.方法 本研究采用文献研究法和专家咨询法,根据文献研究的结果制定公关策略.结果 梳理医院危机公关研究理论的现状,分析新媒体环境对医院危机公关的影响和挑战,制定新媒体时代下医院危机公关策略,通过专家咨询、修改并对策略评分,最终确定的策略有:危机公关应列入院长决策议程;全时监控和研判医院危机舆情;把“快”贯穿于危机公关的全程;充分利用新媒体应对危机事件;要主动、及时、诚恳、客观地进行沟通;主动邀请第三方力量介入;危机事件整改措施全覆盖;适时启动医院正面典型宣传.结论 新媒体时代,医院应对危机事件时,应重视新媒体的关键作用,强化危机意识,做好危机预警,科学有效地应对危机事件.     

Survey of teaching/learning of healthcare-associated infections in UK and Irish medical schools

All medical doctors have an important role to play in the diagnosis, management and prevention of healthcare-associated infection (HCAI). Strengthening the contribution of medical doctors and medical students to HCAI prevention programmes should include measures that enhance knowledge, improve practice and develop appropriate attitudes to the safety and quality of patient care. The Hospital Infection Society (HIS) funded a review of medical education on HCAI throughout medical schools in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. A questionnaire was drafted and circulated to all medical schools and 31 of 38 (82%) responded. The prevalence and transmission of HCAI were taught by 97% and 100% of medical schools, respectively, but the importance of HCAI as a quality and safety issue was covered in only 60% of medical schools. Multiple choice questions (MCQs) and objective structure clinical examinations (OSCEs) were the most popular methods of assessment. Lectures, discussion of cases and practical demonstrations were considered useful by >90% of respondents and online material and log books by 67% and 60%, respectively. More than 80% were willing to share a common pool of educational resources. An agreed curriculum should be developed for educating medical students in HCAI prevention and control, to outline optimum methods for assessment and develop a shared pool of educational resources.     

Exploring gender differences in the working lives of UK hospital consultants

Objective

Internationally, increasing numbers of women are practising medicine. Gender differences in doctors’ working hours, specialty choices and communication styles are well documented, but studies often neglect contextual factors such as the role of socialised gender expectations on behaviours in the workplace and the medical profession. These may be important as recent studies have reported gender differences in doctors’ activity rates that cannot be explained by specialty or contracted hours, suggesting other sources of variation. This study sought to explore the working lives of hospital doctors and how their work is negotiated according to gender and context.

Design

Gender differences in the day-to-day work of hospital specialists (consultants) in the NHS were investigated using a qualitative approach, including observation and interview methods. Data were analysed inductively using qualitative observation and interview methods.

Setting

Two NHS hospital trusts in England.

Participants

Data were collected from 13 participants working in a variety of specialties and in a range of clinical and non-clinical settings.

Main outcome measures

Various behaviours, attitudes and experiences were explored, such as doctor–patient communication, interactions with colleagues and workload.

Results

Influences at both individual and situational levels, appear to affect differentially the work of male and female doctors. Female consultants described awareness of the impact of behaviours on relationships with colleagues, and their interactions appeared to be more carefully performed. Nurses and other colleagues tend to demonstrate less cooperation with female consultants. Gender differences also exist in patient communication, feelings of work–family conflict and barriers to career progression.

Conclusions

These variations in hospital consultants’ work may have implications for both the quantity and quality of care provided by male and female consultants. This is timely and of importance to the medical workforce as the gender composition approaches parity.     

US Media Coverage of Tobacco Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives

Media coverage of tobacco industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives represents a competitive field where tobacco control advocates and the tobacco industry vie to shape public and policymaker understandings about tobacco control and the industry. Through a content analysis of 649 US news items, we examined US media coverage of tobacco industry CSR and identified characteristics of media items associated with positive coverage. Most coverage appeared in local newspapers, and CSR initiatives unrelated to tobacco, with non-controversial beneficiaries, were most commonly mentioned. Coverage was largely positive. Tobacco control advocates were infrequently cited as sources and rarely authored opinion pieces; however, when their voices were included, coverage was less likely to have a positive slant. Media items published in the South, home to several tobacco company headquarters, were more likely than those published in the West to have a positive slant. The absence of tobacco control advocates from media coverage represents a missed opportunity to influence opinion regarding the negative public health implications of tobacco industry CSR. Countering the media narrative of virtuous companies doing good deeds could be particularly beneficial in the South, where the burdens of tobacco-caused disease are greatest, and coverage of tobacco companies more positive.     

Reframing Menstruation in India: Metamorphosis of the Menstrual Taboo With the Changing Media Coverage

In this study I hypothesize metamorphosis of the menstrual taboo by examining the image and perception shifts of two social taboos—HIV/AIDS and homosexuality—from estranged taboos to embraced social issues. Trends identified in their media framing and respective image shifts were applied to menstruation in India. Based on my understanding of theory, topic, and geographical location, I construct a metamorphosis. I contribute the hypothesized final stage of metamorphosis, and explain how framing is likely instrumental in bringing about these changes.     

Secrets of a Head Chef: Exploring Factors Influencing Success in Irish Kitchens

One-hundred and seventy head chefs from the Republic of Ireland scored 59 variables for success on two scales: (a) competencies needed for success (NS), and (b) personal ownership of these competencies (PO). Results showed that variables were rated with means of 1.18 (extremely important) to 3.23 (moderately important). The top three were an ability to work hard, commitment to quality, and knowledge of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). Variables rated lower in ownership than importance highlight areas for culinary educators to develop training programs. Average wages of head chefs (objective success) mirror the average industrial wage, but higher wages were gained with longer time working. Eighty percent of head chefs were satisfied (subjective success) in their current jobs. Factor analysis showed the factors needed to succeed in the culinary industry include professionalism, individual characteristics, leadership skills, management skills, and interaction with the job context. Applications for industry include talent management, mentoring future leaders, reducing staff turnover, and curriculum development.     

Suicide Coverage in the Digital Press Media: Adherence to World Health Organization Guidelines and Effectiveness of Different Interventions Aimed at Media Professionals

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the characteristics of suicide news articles in the digital press, their adherence to World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, and the effectiveness of interventions. We assessed adherence, avoidability, frequency and typology of suicide news over a six-month period in the four main digital media outlets of the Canary Islands (Spain). A brief training and information package intervention to the Canary Islands media outlets was carried out. We compared the quality of media reporting at both the pre-intervention and post-intervention timepoints, and compared the quality of reporting at the post-intervention timepoint in Victoria (Australia), where media interventions have been well-resourced and running for several years. We evaluated 339 suicide news articles: 38 from the pre-intervention period, 64 from the post-intervention period, and 237 from Victoria. News articles showed a very low degree of adherence to WHO recommendations, especially to those recommendations thought to have a protective effect. Post-intervention news articles showed better adherence than pre-intervention ones, but lower than those of Victoria, where constant interventions have been developed for years. We conclude that adherence to WHO recommendations is low. Simple interventions aimed at media professionals can improve adherence. However, constant and complex interventions seem to be more effective.     

Autism Narratives in Media Coverage of the MMR Vaccine-Autism Controversy under a Crip Futurism Framework

While previous studies in health communication have examined online news media regarding autism, there is a lack of research that critically examines how such media representations may stigmatize autism and seeks to eliminate the condition, particularly in the context of the resurging measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine-autism controversy. To address this gap in the literature, this study analyzes 153 articles that engage the MMR vaccine-autism controversy from the top 10 online news sources in the U.S. from September 2015 through July 2017. It draws from Kafer’s (2013) work in Feminist, Crip, Queer, using a lens of crip futurism to interpret three major narrative themes: a death and survival narrative that purports autism as a worst-case scenario, a societal problem narrative, and a preventative narrative that seeks to eliminate the condition. These themes suggest that online news media narratives about autism surrounding the autism-MMR controversy play into stereotypes about autism, including stigmatization and prioritization of preventive behaviors and cures over supporting the lived experiences of autistic individuals. Continued research on the impact of online media portrayals of autism specifically, and disability in health contexts generally, is called for.     

Exploring the Effect of Mass Media on Perceptions of Infant Feeding

This qualitative study explored women's perceptions of mass media and infant feeding. Mass media is a universal means of communication with potential to impact social norms. Data obtained from interviews with women (n = 20) were compared with text and visual representation from Internet sites (n = 12) on parenting and infant feeding. Themes from interviews reflected information represented on Internet sites. Participants offered suggestions for future media messages, such as public service announcements of breastfeeding. Participants emphasized that public opinion needs to be altered, and breastfeeding in public would then be viewed as the norm.     

Applying Natural Language Processing to Evaluate News Media Coverage of Bullying and Cyberbullying

Prevention Science - Bullying events have frequently been the focus of coverage by news media, including news stories about teens whose death from suicide was attributed to cyberbullying. Previous...     

How Localized Outbreaks and Changes in Media Coverage Affect Zika Attitudes in National and Local Contexts

ABSTRACT

Public opinion researchers often find changing attitudes about pressing public health issues to be a difficult task and even when attitudes do change, behaviors often do not. However, salient real-world events have the ability to bring public health crises to the fore in unique ways. To assess the impact of localized public health events on individuals’ self-reported behavior, this paper examines Floridians’ intentions to take preventative measures against the Zika virus before and after the first locally transmit- ted case of Zika emerged in Florida. We find that local and national media coverage of Zika increased significantly following its first transmission in the U.S. Critically, we also find that Floridians surveyed after this increase in media coverage were more likely to pay attention to Zika-related news, and self-report intentions to take protective action against the virus. These results suggest that behavioral intentions can shift as health threats become more proximate.     

新媒体时代医院危机事件的应对策略

微博、博客、SNS的兴起,预示着新媒体时代的全面到来.信息的传播方式也发生了颠覆性的改变.就医院而言,个体的矛盾和冲突事件,如果不能及时得到正确的处理,在新媒体的广泛介入后,极易在短时间内变成一个公共卫生事件.文章拟结合具体案例,对实践操作中的难点问题进行分析,并就应对策略进行讨论.     

Outrage Factors in Government Press Releases of Food Risk and Their Influence on News Media Coverage

An appropriate level of risk perception should be a critical issue in modern “risk society.” There have been many studies on the influences on risk perception. This study investigates whether risk communication scholar Dr. Peter Sandman's outrage factors intensify journalistic attention to health risks from food consumption. A content analysis of a health institution's press releases was conducted to examine 15 outrage factors of food risks conveyed in the governmental risk communication. In addition, the news stories covering the food risks informed by the press releases were calculated to evaluate the relation between outrage factors of a risk and the number of news stories covering the risk. Results showed that controllability was the most salient outrage factor, followed by trust, voluntariness, familiarity, and human origin; the greater the outrage score of a risk, the more news stories of the risk. For individual outrage factors, a risk with an implication of catastrophic potential was associated with an increase of news stories. Food providers’ distrustful behaviors also influenced journalistic attention to the food risks. The implication of the findings to health message designers is discussed.     

Media usage predicts intention to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 in the US and the UK

There is existing evidence of a relationship between media use and vaccine hesitancy. Four online questionnaires were completed by general population samples from the US and the UK in June 2020 (N = 1198, N = 3890, N = 1663, N = 2237). After controls, all four studies found a positive association between intention to be vaccinated and usage of broadcast and print media. The three studies which operationalised media usage in terms of frequency found no effect for social media. However, the study which operationalised media use in terms of informational reliance found a negative effect for social media.Youth, low household income, female gender, below degree-level of education, and membership of other than white ethnic groups were each also found to be associated with lower intentions to be vaccinated in at least two of the four studies. In all four studies, intention to be vaccinated was positively associated with having voted either for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential elections or for Labour Party candidates in the 2019 UK general election. Neither of the UK studies found an association with having voted for Conservative Party candidates, but both US studies found a negative association between intention to be vaccinated and having voted for Donald Trump.The consistent finding of greater intention to be vaccinated among users of legacy media but not among users of social media suggests that social media do not currently provide an adequate replacement for legacy media, at least in terms of public health communication. The finding of a negative association with social media in the study which measured informational reliance rather than frequency is consistent with the view that uncritical consumption of social media may be acting to promote vaccine hesitancy.