Document Detail


Marvelous medicines and dangerous drugs: the representation of prescription medicine in the UK newsprint media.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20533792     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Using discourse analysis, this study examines the representation of prescription medicines in the UK newsprint media and, specifically, how the meaning and function of medicines are constructed. At the same time, it examines the extent to which the newsprint media represents a resource for health information, and considers how it may encourage or challenge faith in modern medicine and medical authority. As such, it extends analysis around concepts such as the informed patient and examines the representation of patients and doctors and the extent to which patient-doctor identities promoted in the newsprint media reflect a shift away from paternalism to negotiated encounters. Findings show the media constructs a discrete, contradictory, and frequently oversimplified set of characterizations about medicine. Moreover, it discursively constructs realities that justify and sustain medial dominance. Ideological paradigms in discourse assign patients as passive and disempowered while simultaneously privileging "expert" knowledge. This constructs a reality that marginalizes patients' participation in decision-making.
Authors:
Helen Prosser
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Public understanding of science (Bristol, England)     Volume:  19     ISSN:  0963-6625     ISO Abbreviation:  Public Underst Sci     Publication Date:  2010 Jan 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-06-10     Completed Date:  2010-06-29     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9306503     Medline TA:  Public Underst Sci     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  52-69     Citation Subset:  QIS    
Affiliation:
Centre for Public Health Research, University of Salford, UK. H.Prosser@salford.ac.uk
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Great Britain
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Health Literacy*
Humans
Information Dissemination*
Journalism, Medical
Mass Media
Newspapers*
Physician-Patient Relations
Prescription Drugs*
Prospective Studies
Qualitative Research
Social Perception*
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Prescription Drugs

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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