Surgical Emotions: How TV and Newspaper Coverage Furthered the Cause of Heart Transplantation in France (1968–1973)

Abstract

This paper shows the influence of media coverage for the fate of heart transplantation in France. It argues that the media’s support not only reinforced the graft’s medical legitimacy, but also sustained the practice by mobilizing public support. Our study focuses on two peaks in media coverage. The first took place in 1968/69, as the first grafts in the world and in France were performed. The second occurred in 1973, when surgeries resumed in France following a four-year hiatus due to the mixed results of the early operations. French transplants were then largely covered on TV and in newspapers. We examine the reasons for these peaks in coverage and the underlying rationales of the alliance between French surgeons and journalists. Cross-analysis of TV and print productions sheds light on the media devices used to enlist the general public’s moral support. It shows that state television proved an effective platform for doctors, allowing for a different kind of storytelling than in newspapers.