Media, Social Proximity, and Risk: A Comparative Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Avian Flu in Hong Kong and in the United States

This study uses the psychometric paradigm (Renn & Rohrmann, 2000 ; Slovic, 1992 ) as an analytic framework to analyze the risk dimensions being conveyed in media coverage of Avian flu in Hong Kong and in the United States between 2003 and 2007. A quantitative content analysis of The New York Tim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health communication 2011-09, Vol.16 (8), p.889-907
Main Authors: Fung, Timothy K. F., Namkoong, Kang, Brossard, Dominique
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Avian flu
Biological and medical sciences
Birds
Content analysis
Epidemics
Health technology assessment
Hong Kong
Human viral diseases
Humans
Infectious diseases
Influenza in Birds
Information
Media
Media coverage
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Newspapers as Topic - statistics & numerical data
Psychometrics
Public health
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Public Opinion
Quantitative analysis
Quantitative psychology
Risk
Risk assessment
Studies
U.S.A
Uncertainty
United States
Viral diseases
Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases
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Summary:This study uses the psychometric paradigm (Renn & Rohrmann, 2000 ; Slovic, 1992 ) as an analytic framework to analyze the risk dimensions being conveyed in media coverage of Avian flu in Hong Kong and in the United States between 2003 and 2007. A quantitative content analysis of The New York Times and South China Morning Post stories showed different patterns of avian flu related risk content coverage. The differences revealed that dimensions related to dreadfulness, catastrophic potential, uncertainty, and unfamiliarity were more emphasized in The New York Times than in South China Morning Post. The authors discuss the implications.
ISSN:1081-0730
1087-0415
DOI:10.1080/10810730.2011.561913