‘Polony panic’: News values and risk messages in news coverage of the South African listeriosis outbreak of 2017–2018

Abstract

During food-borne disease outbreaks, people get most of their information about food safety and risk from the news media. Best practice in risk messaging requires the rapid sharing of information to minimise harm, while expressing empathy, accountability, and commitment. The journalistic processes through which news is shaped can prioritise information differently, potentially limiting informed decision-making. The South African listeriosis outbreak (2017–2018) was the biggest in global history and generated considerable media attention. Using ‘social attenuation of risk theory’ and ‘gatekeeping theory’, combined with ‘crisis and emergency risk communication best practices’ as guiding principles, in this study we aimed to analyse which components of risk message content and which news factors were prioritised by news media during the outbreak. Content analysis of 91 listeriosis-related newspaper articles revealed that the most common risk messaging practices included were information about ‘what is known’ and ‘which foods to avoid’. News factor analysis indicated ‘relevance’ was omnipresent, and ‘controversy’ was the second most frequently encountered factor. Overall, our findings suggest that only some best practices featured in the risk message media content, while others were mostly absent. This should be considered when developing future risk communication strategies related to food safety.

Keywords:

• news
• outbreak
• listeriosis
• risk communication
• food safety

Acknowledgements

This work is based on the research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa (Grant No 93097). Any opinion, finding and conclusion or recommendation expressed in this material is that of the author(s) and the NRF does not accept any liability in this regard. The authors also wish to thank Martin Kidd (Centre for Statistical Consultation, Stellenbosch University) for the statistical analyses.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa [Grant No 93097].