Department of Journalism

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Browsing Department of Journalism by Author "Besaans, Linda Carol"

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    Pseudoscience : a case study of a South African lifestyle magazine, and a survey of its usage
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-12) Besaans, Linda Carol; Claassen, George; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Across the globe scientists are taking issue with pseudoscience, as well as the role of the media in promoting it. Articles based on pseudoscience, especially those relating to Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) that fall outside the realms of orthodox medicine, are common in all forms of media, but especially in women’s health and lifestyle magazines. Scientists are quite vociferous in their condemnation of CAM for both ethical and safety reasons, since neither the therapies nor the remedies associated with CAM practices have been proven to be efficacious, or even safe. In fact, some of the therapies and advice offered by CAM practitioners are dangerous and, in some instances, may even be life threatening. Nevertheless, the media continue to promote CAM, and the public continues to support it – despite the warnings and denunciation by scientists. This is an exploratory study to determine the prevalence of pseudoscience, generally, in South African women’s health and lifestyle magazines, and to uncover the reasons the public supports it. The magazine Longevity is used as an example of this type of publication, and a content analysis is used to illustrate the prevalence of pseudoscience articles and adverts in South African media, while field research, in the form of personal interviews, attempts to determine the reasons people support CAM in spite of its denunciation, as well as the media’s role in fostering this support. Both mainstream science and pseudoscience are described, while a literature review reveals the scientific perspective of CAM, provides examples of the more popular forms of CAM and the dangers inherent in them, as well as the ways in which science and pseudoscience in general, are handled by the media. Using the hypodermic needle theory, plus the results of the content analysis and field research, this study shows that media promote pseudoscience because it pays; the public support CAM because they believe it works; and that that belief is primarily the result of public disillusionment with the practice of orthodox medicine, rather than the result of media’s promotion of CAM, as scientists contend.