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11. Newspaper coverage of the 2003 SARS outbreak

  • J. Brian Houston , Wen-Yu Chao and Sandra Ragan
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The Social Construction of SARS
This chapter is in the book The Social Construction of SARS

Abstract

SARS suddenly emerged in 2003 and became the first global health threat in the modern mass mediated era. A content analysis was undertaken to determine how the media in four different countries covered the SARS outbreak, in order to understand how the media construct a global health threat. Results indicate that the media relied on thematic treatments of SARS, most often utilizing a topic focused on statistical representations of the number of SARS deaths and victims. The media also focused on the isolation and quarantines imposed due to SARS. Other topics varied in frequency depending on how close or remote the media sources were to the SARS outbreak. Government entities were the most frequent sources of information in all coverage of the SARS outbreak.

Abstract

SARS suddenly emerged in 2003 and became the first global health threat in the modern mass mediated era. A content analysis was undertaken to determine how the media in four different countries covered the SARS outbreak, in order to understand how the media construct a global health threat. Results indicate that the media relied on thematic treatments of SARS, most often utilizing a topic focused on statistical representations of the number of SARS deaths and victims. The media also focused on the isolation and quarantines imposed due to SARS. Other topics varied in frequency depending on how close or remote the media sources were to the SARS outbreak. Government entities were the most frequent sources of information in all coverage of the SARS outbreak.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Constructions of SARS in Hong Kong
  5. 1. Hong Kong's multiple constructions of SARS 17
  6. 2. A hero story without heroes: The Hong Kong government's narratives on SARS 33
  7. 3. "SARS" versus "atypical pneumonia": Inconsistencies in Hong Kong's public health warnings and disease-prevention campaign 53
  8. 4. Internet press freedom and online crisis reporting: The role of news web sites in the SARS epidemic 69
  9. Part II. Constructions of SARS on the Chinese mainland
  10. 5. Party journalism vs. market journalism: The coverage of SARS by the People's Daily and Beijing Youth News 93
  11. 6. Construction of nationalism and political legitimacy through rhetoric of the anti-SARS campaign: A fantasy theme analysis 109
  12. 7. SARS discourse as an anti-SARS ideology: The case of Beijing 125
  13. Part III. Constructions of SARS in Singapore and Taiwan
  14. 8. "Triumph over adversity": Singapore mobilizes Confucian values to combat SARS 145
  15. 9. Singapore at war: SARS and its metaphors 163
  16. 10. Reporting an emerging epidemic in Taiwan: Journalists' experiences of SARS coverage 181
  17. Part IV. Cross national constructions of SARS
  18. 11. Newspaper coverage of the 2003 SARS outbreak 203
  19. 12. Effects of rationality and story attributes on perceptions of SARS perception 223
  20. Index 241
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.30.16hou

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Constructions of SARS in Hong Kong
  5. 1. Hong Kong's multiple constructions of SARS 17
  6. 2. A hero story without heroes: The Hong Kong government's narratives on SARS 33
  7. 3. "SARS" versus "atypical pneumonia": Inconsistencies in Hong Kong's public health warnings and disease-prevention campaign 53
  8. 4. Internet press freedom and online crisis reporting: The role of news web sites in the SARS epidemic 69
  9. Part II. Constructions of SARS on the Chinese mainland
  10. 5. Party journalism vs. market journalism: The coverage of SARS by the People's Daily and Beijing Youth News 93
  11. 6. Construction of nationalism and political legitimacy through rhetoric of the anti-SARS campaign: A fantasy theme analysis 109
  12. 7. SARS discourse as an anti-SARS ideology: The case of Beijing 125
  13. Part III. Constructions of SARS in Singapore and Taiwan
  14. 8. "Triumph over adversity": Singapore mobilizes Confucian values to combat SARS 145
  15. 9. Singapore at war: SARS and its metaphors 163
  16. 10. Reporting an emerging epidemic in Taiwan: Journalists' experiences of SARS coverage 181
  17. Part IV. Cross national constructions of SARS
  18. 11. Newspaper coverage of the 2003 SARS outbreak 203
  19. 12. Effects of rationality and story attributes on perceptions of SARS perception 223
  20. Index 241
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