The role of the print media in informing the community about safety in public hospitals in Victoria, Australia: the case of "golden staph".
OBJECTIVE
In this article the authors explore how the print media contribute to information and education of the community on issues of safety and quality in the health services, since this is an important avenue of such information and education for many members of the community.


METHODS
The authors undertook a qualitative study of a random sample of articles in the Australian print press between 1996 and 2004 where "golden staph" was presented as a major issue of risk to the safety of consumers of health services. The content of each article was examined with reference to several criteria including title, the source of the article, and the metaphorical language employed by the journalist.


RESULTS
Results show that while the articles are substantially accurate as sources of information on concrete events, they do not serve as sources of education on issues of safety, typically apportioning blame and serving to maintain the status quo.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors conclude that print media are not a good source of community education in areas of safety and quality and do not assist members of the community to participate in addressing issues of safety in health services.
Walker
Christine F
CF
Chronic Illness Alliance, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia. xine@alphalink.com.au
Jacobs
Struan W
SW
D015706:Bibliometrics; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004351:Drug Resistance; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000592:standards; D008402:Mass Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009524:Newspapers as Topic; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012380:Role; D017751:Safety Management; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects; D014739:Victoria