title: Media coverage of medical decision making at the end of life: a Belgian case study.
abstract: This article presents a content analysis of Belgian media coverage of end-of-life decision making. The authors examine a selection of press articles and the differences among media genres in covering the issue. In general terms, they found an overreporting of euthanasia; a focus on dying processes resulting from cancer and Alzheimer's disease; and an attention to political discussions and political voices, which outnumber patient voices. In genre-specific terms, unlike mainstream media, niche media reported less mediagenic aspects of the end of life. Finally, although popular mainstream media focus on personal aspects of the end-of-life, elite mainstream media privilege political aspects.
authors: a Centre for Studies on Media and Culture , Vrije University Brussels , Brussels , Belgium.
authors: Leen
authors: L
authors: Van Brussel
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Van Landeghem
authors: Joachim
authors: J
authors: Cohen
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D003643:Death; D003657:Decision Making; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008402:Mass Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009524:Newspapers as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*