Abstract
Past research has demonstrated that news coverage of cancer research, and scientific research generally, rarely contains discourse-based hedging, including caveats, limitations, and uncertainties. In a multiple message experiment (k=4 news stories, N=1082), the authors examined whether hedging shaped the perceptions of news consumers. The results revealed that participants were significantly less fatalistic about cancer (p=.039) and marginally less prone to nutritional backlash (p=.056) after exposure to hedged articles. Participants exposed to articles mentioning a second researcher (unaffiliated with the present study) exhibited greater trust in medical professions (p=.001). The findings provide additional support for the inclusion of discourse-based hedging in cancer news coverage and suggest that news consumers will use scientific uncertainty in illness representations.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 486-503 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Journal of Health Communication |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2011 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health(social science)
- Communication
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Library and Information Sciences
Divisions
- Abdominal Transplant
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