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Representations of SARS in the British newspapers

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  • Washer, Peter

Abstract

In the Spring of 2003, there was a huge interest in the global news media following the emergence of a new infectious disease: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). This study examines how this novel disease threat was depicted in the UK newspapers, using social representations theory and in particular existing work on social representations of HIV/AIDS and Ebola to analyse the meanings of the epidemic. It investigates the way that SARS was presented as a dangerous threat to the UK public, whilst almost immediately the threat was said to be 'contained' using the mechanism of 'othering': SARS was said to be unlikely to personally affect the UK reader because the Chinese were so different to 'us'; so 'other'. In this sense, the SARS scare, despite the remarkable speed with which it was played out in the modern global news media, resonates with the meanings attributed to other epidemics of infectious diseases throughout history. Yet this study also highlights a number of differences in the social representations of SARS compared with earlier epidemics. In particular, this study examines the phenomena of 'emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases' over the past 30 or so years and suggests that these have impacted on the faith once widely held that Western biomedicine could 'conquer' infectious disease.

Suggested Citation

  • Washer, Peter, 2004. "Representations of SARS in the British newspapers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(12), pages 2561-2571, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:59:y:2004:i:12:p:2561-2571
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    Cited by:

    1. Yi-Wei Zhang & Jeong-Gil Choi & Armigon Ravshanovich Akhmedov, 2021. "The Impacts of Perceived Risks on Information Search and Risk Reduction Strategies: A Study of the Hotel Industry during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Elliot Clissold & Davina Nylander & Cameron Watson & Antonio Ventriglio, 2020. "Pandemics and prejudice," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(5), pages 421-423, August.
    3. Espinoza, Maria I., 2021. "Conflicting diagnostic and prognostic framing of epidemics? Newspaper representations of dengue as a public health problem in Peru," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    4. Eichelberger, Laura, 2007. "SARS and New York's Chinatown: The politics of risk and blame during an epidemic of fear," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(6), pages 1284-1295, September.
    5. Rosella, Laura C. & Wilson, Kumanan & Crowcroft, Natasha S. & Chu, Anna & Upshur, Ross & Willison, Donald & Deeks, Shelley L. & Schwartz, Brian & Tustin, Jordan & Sider, Doug & Goel, Vivek, 2013. "Pandemic H1N1 in Canada and the use of evidence in developing public health policies – A policy analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 1-9.
    6. Xiaowen Wang & Chu-Ren Huang, 2021. "From Contact Prevention to Social Distancing: The Co-Evolution of Bilingual Neologisms and Public Health Campaigns in Two Cities in the Time of COVID-19," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    7. David Dias Neto & Maria João Figueiras & Sónia Campos & Patrícia Tavares, 2017. "Impact of economic crisis on the social representation of mental health: Analysis of a decade of newspaper coverage," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 63(8), pages 736-743, December.
    8. Chung-Shing Chan, 2021. "Developing a Conceptual Model for the Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Changing Tourism Risk Perception," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-12, September.
    9. Smith, Richard D., 2006. "Responding to global infectious disease outbreaks: Lessons from SARS on the role of risk perception, communication and management," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(12), pages 3113-3123, December.
    10. Degeling, Chris & Kerridge, Ian, 2013. "Hendra in the news: Public policy meets public morality in times of zoonotic uncertainty," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 156-163.
    11. Arun Vishwanath, 2015. "Diffusion of deception in social media: Social contagion effects and its antecedents," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 1353-1367, December.
    12. Washer, Peter & Joffe, Helene, 2006. "The "hospital superbug": Social representations of MRSA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 2141-2152, October.
    13. Wallis, Patrick & Nerlich, Brigitte, 2005. "Disease metaphors in new epidemics: the UK media framing of the 2003 SARS epidemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(11), pages 2629-2639, June.
    14. Quah, Stella R., 2007. "Public image and governance of epidemics: Comparing HIV/AIDS and SARS," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 253-272, February.
    15. Luis-Millán González & José Devís-Devís & Maite Pellicer-Chenoll & Miquel Pans & Alberto Pardo-Ibañez & Xavier García-Massó & Fernanda Peset & Fernanda Garzón-Farinós & Víctor Pérez-Samaniego, 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Sport in Twitter: A Quantitative and Qualitative Content Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-20, April.
    16. Hilton, Shona & Hunt, Kate & Langan, Mairi & Bedford, Helen & Petticrew, Mark, 2010. "Newsprint media representations of the introduction of the HPV vaccination programme for cervical cancer prevention in the UK (2005-2008)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 942-950, March.

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