INTRODUCTION: The mass media are a powerful force in disseminating health information to the public, and promulgate health news differentially by gender. To examine the media role in constructing "public dialogue" about disease and shaping popular ideas about women's diseases, we studied how the American popular press reported on the Toxic Shock Syndrome, 1980-1990.
METHODS: We analyzed content of articles appearing in newspapers and popular magazines published 1980-90. Articles were examined for: frequency of reporting on or reference to scientific sources, theories, and events; tone and imagery used to describe individual cases of toxic shock syndrome and women's menstrual health; and specifics of depiction of the TSS epidemic (case definition, incidence and etiology, emergence).
RESULTS: Articles most often referred to a limited group of scientific sources, including Federal and few state agencies. Seventy-seven percent of newspaper articles and 79% of magazine articles reported Federal and state scientific findings without offering critical reflection. Alternate scientific views or social perspectives on TSS appeared infrequently. The case definition of TSS portrayed the most severe manifestation of illness occurring in young menstruating women, usually to the exclusion of other case scenarios.
CONCLUSION: Mass media are intimately involved in the reciprocal links between social-cultural milieu and disease-control policy. Media acting as "uncritical soundingboard" for government agency sources, plus social perceptions of menstruation as "crisis of hygiene," contributed to media portrayal of TSS as a disease exclusively of menstruating women, and in turn, perpetuated views of women's health as "dysfunctional."
Learning Objectives: Participants will gain perspective on the interdependent relationships between the media, dominant scientific institutions and social discourses around women's health. Participants will be able to apply this perspective to the critical examination of other health topics reported by the media.
Keywords: Media, Women's Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None