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
Summary
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.
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