Who or what has agency in the discussion of antimicrobial resistance in UK news media (2010-2015)? : A transitivity analysis

Collins, Luke Curtis and Jaspal, Rusi and Nerlich, Brigitte (2018) Who or what has agency in the discussion of antimicrobial resistance in UK news media (2010-2015)? : A transitivity analysis. Health, 22 (6). pp. 521-540. ISSN 1363-4593

[thumbnail of Collins%2C L et al_AAM_Who or what has agency in the discussion of antimicrobial resistance in UK news media %282010-2015%29 A transitivity analysis]
Preview
PDF (Collins%2C L et al_AAM_Who or what has agency in the discussion of antimicrobial resistance in UK news media %282010-2015%29 A transitivity analysis)
Collins_2C_L_et_al_AAM_Who_or_what_has_agency_in_the_discussion_of_antimicrobial_resistance_in_UK_news_media_282010_2015_29_A_transitivity_analysis.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial.

Download (504kB)

Abstract

The increase in infections resistant to the existing antimicrobial medicines has become a topic of concern for health professionals, policy makers and publics across the globe; however, among the public there is a sense that this is an issue beyond their control. Research has shown that the news media can have a significant role to play in the public's understanding of science and medicine. In this article, we respond to a call by research councils in the United Kingdom to study antibiotic or antimicrobial resistance as a social phenomenon by providing a linguistic analysis of reporting on this issue in the UK press. We combine transitivity analysis with a social representations framework to determine who and what the social actors are in discussions of antimicrobial resistance in the UK press (2010-2015), as well as which of those social actors are characterised as having agency in the processes around antimicrobial resistance. Findings show that antibiotics and the infections they are designed to treat are instilled with agency, that there is a tension between allocating responsibility to either doctors-as-prescribers or patients-as-users and collectivisation of the general public as an unspecified 'we': marginalising livestock farming and pharmaceutical industry responsibilities.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Health
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3306
Subjects:
?? antibiotic resistanceamrmediasocial representationstransitivityhealth(social science) ??
ID Code:
126857
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
13 Aug 2018 15:22
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
01 Feb 2024 00:36