Browsing by Author "Lotter, Rene Louise"

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    "Elixir of youth" or "Cancer potion"? The battle for the purse of the middle-aged woman and the role of the media in reporting themes in medical science
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004-04) Lotter, Rene Louise; Claassen, G.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The popular media ("Media" here referring to newspapers, magazines. television, internet) adds to confusion and panic when reporting on the risks and benefits of Hormone Replacement Therapy for women (HRT). Most reports show bias, cast scientists as villains, or leave the reader more confused than before about terminology. The Southern African media does in general aspire to objectivity towards both the pharmaceutical and natural health industry. However, shallow or inept reporting, the need to generalise complicated findings and dramatise what's regarded as cold scientific news, create this bias and confusion. Misleading health reporting, in South Africa as much as anywhere else in the world, can change health behaviour and can even cost lives. Ethical health reporting can therefore be described as a matter of life and death. This paper aims to analyse the media for biased, confusing and alarmist reporting. It then aims to explain reasons for the bias or confusion. Fourteen reports are analysed. One Time magazine report, and 13 reports selected from the Southern African media.