Abstract

The main source of topical information in most parts of the world is through the mass media – principally newspapers and television. Television news and current affairs have a duty to remain impartial, as they provide a service for the whole population. Newspapers, on the other hand, have a greater journalistic and editorial freedom as they target subgroups. British newspapers are currently being scrutinised as to how they report both factual and speculative information of a general kind. At the same time there seems to be an increase in their interest in psychological matters. However, work on newspaper reporting of psychiatric disorders (Day & Page, 1986; Matas et al, 1986) has shown that the mentally ill are usually portrayed in a rather negative light with few positive images.

Highlights

  • The first group included those reports giving information about mental illness, and these totalled 7 (13%) in The Mirror and 15 (33%) in The Independent

  • The tabloid newspaper, with only seven articles, had no reports on scientific research, and over half of the articles were written by the newspaper's resident medical journalist, a practising general practitioner

  • Despite the large numbers of cases reported on, only seven were reported in both newspapers. This meant a total of 52 cases, 31 of which related to criminal acts or suicide

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Summary

Introduction

British newspapers are currently being scrutinised as to how they report both factual and speculative information of a general kind. Work on newspaper reporting of psychiatric disorders (Day & Page, 1986; Matas et al, 1986) has shown that the mentally ill are usually portrayed in a rather negative light with few positive images. The first group included those reports giving information about mental illness, and these totalled 7 (13%) in The Mirror and 15 (33%) in The Independent.

Results
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