Uncertain Terms: Message Features of Online Cancer News

Abstract

About 113 million Americans have reported seeking health information online; however, little is known about the quality (or qualities) of the information being retrieved. Users have reported seeking information about health issues in an attempt to reduce negatively appraised uncertainties (Brashers, 2007), but less is known about the ability of the retrieved information to increase or produce unwanted uncertainty. A content analysis of online cancer news was conducted and suggests that 65% of Internet-based cancer news contains message features previously linked to the production of uncertainty (e.g., ambiguous or complex information). Though future research is required regarding uncertainty-related content and its effects, this project provides a foundation for such future endeavors.

Keywords:

• Uncertainty
• Cancer
• Internet News
• Google
• Content Analysis

Acknowledgements

We will always be thankful for the guidance and friendship he provided. The authors also would like to thank Scott Althaus, Travis Dixon, and David Tewksbury for their insights on previous versions of this manuscript and Jeff Rauch, Julius Riles, and Angeline Sangalang for their diligent coding and sampling assistance

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ryan J. Hurley

Ryan J. Hurley is in the Department of Communication, North Carolina State University

Kami A. Kosenko

Kami A. Kosenko is in the Department of Communication, North Carolina State University

Dale Brashers

Dale Brashers was in the Department of Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sadly, we lost our good friend and coauthor, Dale Brashers, before completing this manuscript