Información sobre salud. La función del periodista

  1. Ferrer-Pérez, Sergio 1
  2. Peñafiel-Saiz, Carmen 2
  1. 1 Revista The Conversation
  2. 2 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
    info

    Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

    Lejona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/000xsnr85

Journal:
Infonomy

ISSN: 2990-2290

Year of publication: 2024

Issue Title: Informetría e indicadores

Volume: 2

Issue: 1

Type: Article

DOI: 10.3145/INFONOMY.2024.005 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Infonomy

Abstract

Journalism always requires ethics and responsibility from those who practice it, and science journalism is no exception. However, health journalism is a particularly delicate field within the profession: alarmist, sensationalist, or less rigorous communication from other areas of science can lead the reader to misunderstand the Higgs boson or, at most, believe that a meteorite could impact Earth. In the case of health, there is a danger of creating confusion, alarm, false hopes, and over-expectations on such delicate and personal matters as cancer and Alzheimer's, or matters of public health importance such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, one of the most important and challenging tasks of the science journalist in urgent contexts is, paradoxically, not to publish. In other words, deciding which information, preprints, studies, reports, press releases, and even debates deserve to reach the public opinion and which ones do not.

Bibliographic References

  • Cacciatore, M. A. et al. (2012) «Coverage of emerging technologies: A comparison between print and online media». New media & society, v. 14, n. 6, pp. 1039-1059. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444812439061
  • Catalán-Matamoros, D.; Peñafiel-Saiz, C. (2019). «Specialty matters. Analysis of health journalists’ coverage about vaccines». El profesional de la información, v. 28, n. 2. https://doi.org//10.3145/epi.2019.mar.01
  • Elías-Pérez, C.; Catalán-Matamoros, D. (2020). «Coronavirus: Fear to “official” fake news boosts WhatsApp and alternative sources». Media communication, v. 8, pp. 462-466. https://e-archivo.uc3m.es/handle/10016/30665
  • Hinnant, A.; Len-Ríos M. E.; Hyun-Jee, O. (2012). «Are health journalists’ practices tied to their perceptions of audience? An attribution and expectancy-value approach». Health communication, v. 27, n. 3, pp. 234-243. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2011.578331
  • Lewis, J.; Cushion, S. (2017). «Think tanks, television news and impartiality: The ideological balance of sources in BBC programming». Journalism studies, v. 20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2017.1389295
  • López-Doblas, M.; Luque-Martín, N.; Martín-Barato, A. (2020). Medios de comunicación y COVID-19. Pautas para una información responsable. Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública. http://www.easp.es/web/coronavirusysaludpublica/medios-de-comunicacion-y-covid-19-pautas-para-una-informacion-responsable
  • Mejia, Christian, et al. (2020). «The media and their informative role in the face of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Validation of fear perception and magnitude of the issue (MED-COVID-19 )». Electronic journal of general medicine, v. 17, n. 6. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejgm/7946
  • Nguyen, A.; Catalán-Matamoros, D. (2020). «Digital Mis/Disinformation and Public Engagement with Health and Science Controversies: Fresh Perspectives from Covid-19». Media communication, v. 8, pp. 323-328. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.3352
  • Stroobant, J.; De Dobbelaer R.; Raeymaeckers, K. (2018). «Tracing the Sources: A comparative content analysis of Belgian health news», Journalism practice, v. 12, n. 3, pp. 344-361. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2017.1294027
  • The New York Times (2020). Your coronavirus test is positive. Maybe it shouldn’t be. August 29. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html
  • Viswanath K. et al. (2008). «Occupational practices and the making of health news: A national survey of U.S. health and medical science journalists». Journal of health communication, v. 13, n. 8, pp. 759-777. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730802487430
Data source: Dialnet