title: SARS wars: an examination of the quantity and construction of health information in the news media.
abstract: The media have the power to sway public perception of health issues by choosing what to publish and the context in which to present information. The media may influence an individual's tendency to overestimate the risk of some health issues while underestimating the risk of others, ultimately influencing health choices. Although some research has been conducted to examine the number of articles on selected health topics, little research has examined how the messages are constructed. The purpose of this article is to describe an examination of the construction of news reports on health topics using aspects of the social amplification of risk model and the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion for theoretical direction. One hundred news media reports (print, radio, television, and Internet) were analyzed in terms of message repetition, context, source, and grammar. Results showed that health topics were more often discussed in terms of risk, by credible sources using strong language. This content analysis provides an empirical starting point for future research into how such health news may influence consumer's perceptions of health topics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Wilfrid Laurier University. tanya.berry@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Tanya R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wharf-Higgins
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Naylor
mesh_terms: D015706:Bibliometrics; D002170:Canada; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003141:Communicable Diseases; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008402:Mass Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009524:Newspapers as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012693:Serial Publications / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; D040241:Social Marketing