“It was a freak accident”: An analysis of U.S. press framing of injury-producing events

Background/Purpose A key tenet of injury control is that, to the extent that injury is seen as unavoidable and unpredictable, so the power of known, effective prevention strategies is limited. The terms ‘accident' and ‘freak accident', widely used in common parlance, have long been controversial for injury prevention advocates because of their perceived connotations.

In May 2009, the tragic strangulation death of former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson's four-year old daughter on a home treadmill was depicted in the news media as a ‘freak accident' even though the dangers that exercise equipment and other household items with cords pose to children are well documented in the scientific literature. News coverage of this event prompted an exploratory analysis of news media usage of this term.

Methods Lexis-Nexis was used to search Associated Press coverage from 2004-2009 for the appearance of the term 'freak accident'. Using a qualitative methodology previously developed to study news coverage of fires and alcohol related injuries, we consider the events being defined as freak accidents, who is using the term, the severity of the injuries sustained, and the inclusion of public health perspectives. Results The search yielded 262 relevant pieces. Initial analysis suggests a substantial proportion are about injury events that would not be considered unpredictable from a public health perspective.

Conclusions Our findings will be used to develop media advocacy and education intervention opportunities with an ultimate goal of finding ways to include effective prevention messages in injury event reporting.