H1N1 and TV News in Colombia: Risk Representations and Imaginaries

• Main Authors: Lina Mondragón Pérez, Daniel Hermelin, Juanita Moreno Londoño
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad del Rosario; Universidad de los Andes de Venezuela; Universidad Complutense de Madrid 2013-12-01
• Series: Disertaciones
• Subjects: H1N1; cubrimiento; medios de comunicación; noticieros colombianos; contrato de lectura; agenda setting; tipos de mediación; dramatización; imaginarios
• Online Access: https://revistas.urosario.edu.co/index.php/disertaciones/article/view/3855

The media play a significant role in public health issues, particularly when they become the main or one of the main sources of information for citizens. Their role is key in risk perceptions of the population no matters if it’s near or away from the actual risk. This work studied the forms of treatment that three Colombian news made of the topic of H1N1 flu in the early days that the news appeared in the media agenda. The analysis here allowed us to meet relevant elements of the position taken by the national news Noticias RCN, Noticias Caracol and CM& in the coverage of the virus, which was characterized by a tendency towards dramatization of the content shown in overexposure of the subject. We searched some elements to approach the representations given by the media and possible matches, and resonance with the public representations with this issue, related to this event and with more general aspects of health risks, whose importance is growing in Colombian and Latin-American media.