The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse – one year on, what has changed?
Just over a year ago, at lunchtime on the 20th October 2022, UK news was dominated by the breaking story that Prime Minister Liz Truss had resigned with immediate effect. At the same time and only 2 miles away from...
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Obesity: Who are you calling diseased?
In Britain and elsewhere the so-called ‘obesity crisis’ is regularly headline news. Media coverage focuses on the health risks associated with higher BMIs and the financial implications of this for the National Health Service (NHS). People are encouraged to act...
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Same difference? – From Northwick Park in 2006 to Rennes in 2016
As someone who has researched healthy volunteer involvement in clinical trials I was disturbed by the events in Rennes, France last week, where after taking part in a clinical trial, a healthy volunteer died and 4 others were left in...
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Ebola: Media Narratives and Public Responses
The Ebola crisis has been described by the WHO as “the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times” and national governments, aid organisations and others have reacted to the crisis at this level. But what about public understandings...
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Selling Stigma: Mental Illness and the Media
In the same week that we celebrate World Mental Health Day, the Sun newspaper ran a front page headline which read “1,200 killed by mental patients”. The statistics were written in lurid ‘blood red’ with much smaller writing below which stated...
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Be happy, be healthy and get well soon
Rows continued to rumble this week about the proper content of general practice in the new NHS. Are GPs ducking their responsibility for out of hours care? Are they being pulled away from medical practice by the new responsibilities of...
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From victims to heroes to scroungers: changes in the public perception of disabled people.
Disability and disabled people have regularly featured in the media over the past few months. Radio 4 is currently running a series exploring disability across history, we have had extensive coverage of the Oscar Pistorius court case in South Africa...
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Measles, MMR vaccination and the Media
The measles outbreak in South Wales is the largest in a decade and over 800 children are affected. Public health officials are warning that this childhood disease can be life-threatening with complications including pneumonia and long term damage to the...
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Public Health and the (New) Media