This present study aims, by taking account of relevant laws and practices, to analyze how medical risk information provided by health care delivery systems has been represented in the news media, and how it has been treated by medical journalists and why. Two major methods were used in the study. The first method consisted of a content analysis of medical risk information provided by hospitals or medical professionals. A sample of 1,114 articles were randomly selected from the United Daily News, Ming Seng Daily, China Times, Ettoday.com and TVBS-News from January to July 2003 via an internet search of the news archives. Categories analyzed include page, length, news source, region, features of the content, medical orientation (e.g. Western vs. Chinese), and information quality. The second method was a focus group discussion by eight medical journalists from the print and electronic media, respectively. Topics discussed mainly comprised: (1) how medical journalists judged the news worthiness of medical risk information provided by hospitals or medical professionals and why? (2) how journalists judged the credibility of the information and how they addressed the potential marketing in the news? (3) how journalists related medical information represented in the news to the quality of information itself? (4) how journalists viewed the laws regulating representation of medical risk information and the ethical guidelines provided by the Department of Health? and (5) how journalists perceived and dealt with the need for quality medical information from the audiences. By tackling the aforementioned issues, the study ends with suggestions for healthcare delivery systems, health authorities, news media and related external supervising groups. Future practices and potential research directions were also discussed.
中文關鍵詞
醫藥新聞,健康風險,內容分析,焦點訪談
英文關鍵詞
medical journalism, health risk, content analysis, focus group discussion