Abstract
BackgroundAn important source of knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about illness is the mass media. Research has established the often negative and emotive language utilised by journalists to report on physical and mental long-term illnesses. The limited amount of research on rheumatological conditions has largely focused on the extent of, and/or accuracy of media coverage. This is the first published study to examine systematically the language used by the United Kingdom (UK) popular press to specifically describe rheumatoid arthritis (RA).MethodsA patient and public involvement (PPI) approach, involving academics and service users with RA, was used to conduct the research. LexisNexis online repository of print media was searched for articles within a defined five year time frame, which included RA in the headline and/or lead paragraph of 15 UK national non-specialist newspapers. Resultant articles were uploaded to NVivo, and a realist perspective aided a thematic analysis of the data set.ResultsA search of LexisNexis produced 413 newspaper articles, of which 147 met the inclusion criteria. Three themes emerged: (1) language used to describe RA; (2) language used to refer to those who live with RA and; (3) language used to report on potential new treatments for RA. Negative and emotive terms such as ‘attack’, ‘painful’, ‘crippling’, and ‘agony’ were the most frequently used to describe the experience of RA. People diagnosed with RA were often portrayed as ‘sufferers’ or ‘victims’, though neutral language was also deployed. ‘Hope’ and ‘breakthrough’ were the most reported terms for potential new treatments for RA. Across the three themes, tabloid and middle market newspaper articles applied more sensationalised language with attention grabbing headlines and news stories. By contrast, such emotive terminology was less apparent in broadsheets.ConclusionsThe media is a source of information about RA for the general population, but the quality of newspaper journalism about the condition requires improvement. The findings may act as a stimulus for a national public awareness initiative and/or social marketing campaign. How the language currently constructed to describe RA in the press is received by people with RA would be an important area for future research.
Highlights
An important source of knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about illness is the mass media
The initial search in the LexisNexis database generated 413 articles from 15 national and non-specialist newspapers, of which 147 qualified according to the inclusion criteria
The majority (n = 106, 72%) appeared in tabloid/middle market newspapers, with just 28% (n = 41) featured in broadsheets. 81% (n = 86) of tabloid/middle market articles were printed in the Daily Express, Daily Mail, and Daily Mirror. 56% (n = 23) of broadsheet items were in the Daily Telegraph alone
Summary
An important source of knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about illness is the mass media. Research has established the often negative and emotive language utilised by journalists to report on physical and mental long-term illnesses. The limited amount of research on rheumatological conditions has largely focused on the extent of, and/or accuracy of media coverage This is the first published study to examine systematically the language used by the United Kingdom (UK) popular press to describe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The language utilised by the mass media in the communication of health issues has the potential to affect the public’s attitudes and perceptions [11]. This recognition has given rise to research, which has examined the media’s usage of language in the representation of longterm conditions. Graham Thornicroft [26] asked the question of why the media has tended to trade in the use of such negative stereotypes? One of the main reasons he argues is that as most of the media industry is commercially and profit driven, it has had clear incentives to play on the prejudices of its consumers [26]
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