In order to assess the quality of pharmaceutical advertising in Norway, we conducted a review of advertisements for selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors published in the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association and the journal Legemidler og samfunn during the period 1995-97. 18 advertisements with 38 reference citations were identified. In six citations (16%), errors made it impossible to identify the source with certainty solely on the basis of the advertisement. Under Norwegian drug advertisement regulations, a total of 56 statements should have been followed by a reference citation. In 18 of these (33%), it was debatable whether the statements were in accordance with the regulations. This review indicates that a significant proportion of the statements in drug advertisements is inaccurate and gives a too positive picture of the properties of the drug.
The media have the power to sway public perception of health issues by choosing what to publish and the context in which to present information. The media may influence an individual's tendency to overestimate the risk of some health issues while underestimating the risk of others, ultimately influencing health choices. Although some research has been conducted to examine the number of articles on selected health topics, little research has examined how the messages are constructed. The purpose of this article is to describe an examination of the construction of news reports on health topics using aspects of the social amplification of risk model and the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion for theoretical direction. One hundred news media reports (print, radio, television, and Internet) were analyzed in terms of message repetition, context, source, and grammar. Results showed that health topics were more often discussed in terms of risk, by credible sources using strong language. This content analysis provides an empirical starting point for future research into how such health news may influence consumer's perceptions of health topics.
In December 1898, a five year old boy was found murdered and sexually abused at Grünerløkka in Oslo. The crime was reported to the police by a 19 year old boy, who soon after was detained and charged with the misdeed. In spring 1899 he was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. This article is based on a long and detailed forensic medical and psychiatric report from the investigation and trial, published in this Journal in 1899, and on the Oslo press coverage of the crime. It shows that much has changed during these 100 years regarding both the privacy of the victim, the accused and their families, and factors paid attention to in the psychiatric assessment of the accused.
Department of Public Health Sciences, Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. ozegovic@ualberta.ca
Agricultural injury and fatality pose a significant burden on farmers, families, health care systems, and economies. One way of increasing knowledge of this problem and promoting prevention is the use of printed mass media such as newspapers.
We conducted a scan of all media reports contained in the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) archives for the period January, 2007 to September, 2009, inclusive, for injury and fatality and analyzed newspaper articles for prevention messages.
Of the 409 articles in the database, 392 met the inclusion criteria. Ninety-three of the articles (24%) contained a prevention message, and 39 (10%) of these were considered to be strong. Urban papers were two times more likely to have a safety message (OR?=?2.03) while adult-related events were less likely to have a safety message included (OR?=?0.49).
Print media reporting of agricultural injury and fatality represents a missed opportunity to provide a prevention message. More can be done to improve linkages between news media outlets and injury prevention specialists to improve prevention content in newsprint.
