A media pandemic: Influenza A in Portuguese newspapers

Abstract

On April 2009, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic alert as a consequence of the appearance of a new influenza virus, named ‘Influenza A, H1N1’. In Portugal, media coverage on this disease was intense. However, as the number of deaths within Influenza A patients turned out to be much lower than the foreseen statistics of national authorities, the hypothesis of a ‘media pandemic’ was suggested by national opinion makers. Looking for a better understanding of the phenomenon, we conducted a study on media coverage and news sources on Influenza A in Portugal. The study of news sources on health issues is a way of understanding health information and it has been a neglected area on Health Communication. This investigation stood on the examination of 655 articles of three national newspapers, with distinct editorial criteria. The analysis considered six variables: number of sources, geographic location, genre, identification, status, and medical expertise. This task followed a quantitative methodology. The findings confirmed previous noticed trends on health information research: the power of official sources, the complexity of access to medical sources, and the lasting misunderstandings between journalists and the medical community.

Keywords:

• Health communication
• Influenza A
• Newspapers

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Felisbela Lopes

Felisbela Lopes is Assistant Professor in the Communication Sciences Department at the University of Minho; is pro-rector of the University; is a member of the Communication and Society Research Centre (CECS) participating in the research group of Media and Journalism; has a doctoral thesis in Communication Sciences (Lopes, 2005); works in Journalism and television; teaches journalism; and is the leader of a research group in Health Communication.

Teresa Ruão

Teresa Ruão is Assistant Professor in the Communication Sciences Department at the University of Minho; is vice-president of the Social Sciences Institute; is a member of the Communication and Society Research Centre (CECS) participating in the research group of Media and Journalism; has a PhD thesis in Communication Sciences (Ruão, 2008); works on Organizational Communication; teaches Strategic Communication; is a member of a research group in Health Communication.

Sandra Marinho

Sandra Marinho is Assistant Professor at the Communication Sciences Department at University of Minho; is a member of the Communication and Society Research Centre (CECS) in the research group on Media and Journalism; has a master thesis in Human Resources Management (on the subject of informal networking); teaches Journalism and Research Methods; participates in a research group on Health Communication; and is currently developing a PhD thesis on Journalism Education.

Rita Araújo

Rita Araújo has a degree in Communication Sciences and is currently taking her masters in Communication Sciences – Information and Journalism at University of Minho; is a researcher at Communication and Society Research Centre (CECS) within the Heath Communication research group.