‘Polony panic’: News values and risk messages in news coverage of the South African listeriosis outbreak of 2017–2018

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q3 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Health Risk & Society Pub Date : 2022-02-07 DOI:10.1080/13698575.2022.2033177

C. Lamprecht, Lars Guenther, M. Joubert

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

During food-borne disease outbreaks, people get most of their information about food safety and risk from the news media. Best practice in risk messaging requires the rapid sharing of information to minimise harm, while expressing empathy, accountability, and commitment. The journalistic processes through which news is shaped can prioritise information differently, potentially limiting informed decision-making. The South African listeriosis outbreak (2017–2018) was the biggest in global history and generated considerable media attention. Using ‘social attenuation of risk theory’ and ‘gatekeeping theory’, combined with ‘crisis and emergency risk communication best practices’ as guiding principles, in this study we aimed to analyse which components of risk message content and which news factors were prioritised by news media during the outbreak. Content analysis of 91 listeriosis-related newspaper articles revealed that the most common risk messaging practices included were information about ‘what is known’ and ‘which foods to avoid’. News factor analysis indicated ‘relevance’ was omnipresent, and ‘controversy’ was the second most frequently encountered factor. Overall, our findings suggest that only some best practices featured in the risk message media content, while others were mostly absent. This should be considered when developing future risk communication strategies related to food safety.

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“波兰恐慌”:2017-2018年南非李斯特菌病疫情新闻报道中的新闻价值和风险信息

在食源性疾病暴发期间，人们从新闻媒体获得有关食品安全和风险的大部分信息。风险信息传递的最佳做法要求迅速分享信息，以尽量减少伤害，同时表达同情、问责和承诺。塑造新闻的新闻过程可能会以不同的方式优先考虑信息，这可能会限制知情决策。南非李斯特菌病疫情(2017-2018年)是全球历史上最大的疫情，引起了媒体的广泛关注。利用“风险的社会衰减理论”和“把关理论”，结合“危机和紧急风险沟通最佳实践”作为指导原则，在本研究中，我们旨在分析风险信息内容的哪些组成部分以及哪些新闻因素在疫情爆发期间被新闻媒体优先考虑。对91篇李斯特菌病相关报纸文章的内容分析显示，最常见的风险信息传递做法包括“已知的”和“避免哪些食物”的信息。新闻因素分析表明，“相关性”是无所不在的，“争议”是第二个最常遇到的因素。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，只有一些最佳实践在风险信息媒体内容中出现，而其他的则大多缺席。在制定与食品安全有关的未来风险沟通策略时，应考虑到这一点。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Health Risk & Society Multiple-

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

14.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Health Risk & Society is an international scholarly journal devoted to a theoretical and empirical understanding of the social processes which influence the ways in which health risks are taken, communicated, assessed and managed. Public awareness of risk is associated with the development of high profile media debates about specific risks. Although risk issues arise in a variety of areas, such as technological usage and the environment, they are particularly evident in health. Not only is health a major issue of personal and collective concern, but failure to effectively assess and manage risk is likely to result in health problems.