Sabotaging public engagement with science: Missing scientific principles in newspaper stories about the Wakefield MMR-Autism controversy
This study examines numbers of stories published about the MMR-autism controversy – and frames those stories employed — by The Times of London and The Daily Mail from 1998-2011. Statistically significant correlations were found between total numbers of related stories published by all newspapers indexed by LexisNexis (1998-2011) and numbers of measles cases. During the timeframe examined, The Times of London published 134 stories on the controversy; The Daily Mail, 209. The two newspapers emphasized different frames. The Times stressed, among others, scientific support for vaccine safety; danger of leaving children unvaccinated; media irres - ponsibility; parents’ poor science literacy, irrationality and emotionalism; debunking vaccine danger claims; and failures in the peer review process by the scholarly journal publishing Wakefield’s research. The Daily Mail, on the other hand, featured frames including competing views of scientific issues; government greed, power mongering, and untrustworthiness; arrogance and lack of approachability of most physicians; and Wakefield as responsive and caring victim of a government witch hunt. Neither paper explained scientific principles sufficiently to make informed decisions about MMR safety or to facilitate public engagement with the debate.
Year of publication: |
2012
|
---|---|
Authors: | WHITE, Judith MCINTOSH |
Published in: |
Revista Romana de Jurnalism si Comunicare - Romanian Journal of Journalism and Communication. - University of Bucharest, Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies – Universitatea din Bucuresti, Facultatea de Jurnalism si Stiintele Comunicarii, ISSN 1842-256X. - 2012, 3-4, p. 79-93
|
Publisher: |
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies – Universitatea din Bucuresti, Facultatea de Jurnalism si Stiintele Comunicarii |
Subject: | Autism | immunization | MMR | science literacy | Wakefield |
Saved in:
Online Resource
Saved in favorites
Similar items by subject
-
Market Effects of Generic Entry: The Role of Physicians and of Non-Bioequivalent Competitors
Gonzalez, Jorge, (2006)
-
Spanjol, Jelena, (2016)
-
Edison Anthony Raj, Arul, (2019)
- More ...