Ebola and the rhetoric of US newspapers: assessing quality risk communication in public health emergencies

The 2014 West African Ebola outbreak was the first to be actively covered by the US media because of cases treated on US soil. Despite little chance of widespread contagion, US media termed Ebola ‘apocalyptic.’ The objective of this study was to understand how information about Ebola provided to the public through US newspapers was presented to assess how risk communication principles were or were not used. We conducted a systematic content analysis using a purposive sample of 75 news articles published in five US newspapers between 1 August and 31 October 2014. The articles were analyzed using the Dudo et al. framework, based on the extended parallel process model, and assessed for self-efficacy information, personal risk conceptualization (risk magnitude and risk comparison information), and content framing. We found that while coverage was mostly factual, it inconsistently presented quality risk-related information, and rarely used contextual information that would help readers accurately assess risk. Few articles also provided usable, actionable directives, a tenet of good crisis communication that enhances self-efficacy and lowers risk perception. Results inform how news coverage can affect public risk perception of a new, ‘exotic’ pathogen, and how in the case of Ebola US newspapers may have contributed to the inflated risk perception observed in the US population, and may support better, more comprehensive media response during likely future outbreaks.