News framing of anti-vaxxers: an analysis of Malaysian newspapers

Iskandar, Iylia Marsha and Mohamed, Shafizan (2022) News framing of anti-vaxxers: an analysis of Malaysian newspapers. Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 5 (4). pp. 1-9. E-ISSN 2600-9056

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Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) named anti-vaxxers as one of the top ten public health hazards in 2019. Anti-vaxxers are a health danger since they are mostly responsible for the reemergence of deadly contagious diseases such as measles and diphteria, that has increased by recent years. The media, as the primary source of information, are responsible for disseminating messages and public knowledge about health issues, particularly health hazards. Despite the WHO's warning, the Malaysian media paid scant attention to anti-vaxxers. As a result, this paper proposes that newspapers, as the primary source of information, should provide critical information such as scientific and credible data to challenge antivaccine views online, especially by appropriately framing anti-vaxxers. This study examined the Malaysian media through a quantitative content analysis of four newspapers (Harian Metro, Berita Harian, New Straits Times, and The Star) published between 1 January 2019 and 30 September 2021. The 43-month period offered adequate data for analysing reporting trends. The findings suggested that, despite the media's sensationalization of anti-vaxxers, the media continue to fall short of educating the public on the scientific facts opposing anti-vaxxers.

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Vaccination, Antivaxxers, Newspaper, Health Communication, Social Media
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) > H61.8 Communication of information P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics > P87 Communication. Mass media R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA643 Communicable Diseases and Public Health R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA644.C67 Coronavirus infections. COVID-19 (Disease). COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences > Department of Communication Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences
Depositing User:	Dr Shafizan Mohamed
Date Deposited:	27 Sep 2022 08:54
Last Modified:	27 Sep 2022 14:30
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/100217

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