TY - JOUR
T1 - Including limitations in news coverage of cancer research
T2 - Effects of news hedging on fatalism, medical skepticism, patient trust, and backlash
AU - Jensen, Jakob D.
AU - Carcioppolo, Nick
AU - King, Andy J.
AU - Bernat, Jennifer K.
AU - Davis, Lashara
AU - Yale, Robert
AU - Smith, Jessica
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute R25CA128770 (D. Teegarden) Cancer Prevention Internship Program (N. Carcioppolo & A. J. King) administered by the Oncological Sciences Center and the Discovery Learning Research Center at Purdue University.
PY - 2011/5
Y1 - 2011/5
N2 - Past research has demonstrated that news coverage of cancer research, and scientific research generally, rarely contains discourse-based hedging, including caveats, limitations, and uncertainties. In a multiple message experiment (k=4 news stories, N=1082), the authors examined whether hedging shaped the perceptions of news consumers. The results revealed that participants were significantly less fatalistic about cancer (p=.039) and marginally less prone to nutritional backlash (p=.056) after exposure to hedged articles. Participants exposed to articles mentioning a second researcher (unaffiliated with the present study) exhibited greater trust in medical professions (p=.001). The findings provide additional support for the inclusion of discourse-based hedging in cancer news coverage and suggest that news consumers will use scientific uncertainty in illness representations.
AB - Past research has demonstrated that news coverage of cancer research, and scientific research generally, rarely contains discourse-based hedging, including caveats, limitations, and uncertainties. In a multiple message experiment (k=4 news stories, N=1082), the authors examined whether hedging shaped the perceptions of news consumers. The results revealed that participants were significantly less fatalistic about cancer (p=.039) and marginally less prone to nutritional backlash (p=.056) after exposure to hedged articles. Participants exposed to articles mentioning a second researcher (unaffiliated with the present study) exhibited greater trust in medical professions (p=.001). The findings provide additional support for the inclusion of discourse-based hedging in cancer news coverage and suggest that news consumers will use scientific uncertainty in illness representations.
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U2 - 10.1080/10810730.2010.546491
DO - 10.1080/10810730.2010.546491
M3 - Article
C2 - 21347947
AN - SCOPUS:79957462071
VL - 16
SP - 486
EP - 503
JO - Journal of Health Communication
JF - Journal of Health Communication
SN - 1081-0730
IS - 5
ER -