News coverage of drug development: implications for the conveyance of health information.
BMC Public Health
; 21(1): 1799, 2021 10 07.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1465316
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Technical information regarding health-related advances is sometimes esoteric for the general public. News media, therefore, plays a key role in public health promotion via health information conveyance. In this study, we use China as a sample country and analyze the claims and frames in news coverage of health-related advances, with special focus on news coverage of the development and performance of newly developed or tested drugs.METHODS:
A keyword search was performed to retrieve news articles from four representative news agencies in China. In total, 3029 news reports were retrieved, of which 128 were selected for further analysis.RESULTS:
Four aspects of news coverage of drug development were identified (1) the characteristics of new drugs covered, (2) the sources of information, (3) the accuracy of health information in newspapers, and (4) textual features of news coverage.CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings reveal that guidelines should be established to facilitate more systematic news reporting on health-related advances. Additionally, literacy among the general public and professionalism in health information conveyance should be promoted to negate the "illusion of knowing" about health-related advances.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pharmaceutical Preparations
/
Mass Media
Type of study:
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
BMC Public Health
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12889-021-11849-8
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