Mediatizing epidemics: news coverage of the a (H1N1) influenza pandemic of 2009 in Argentina, the United States and Venezuela

Abstract

This article explores the mediatization of epidemics as object of public discourse through content analysis of news coverage of the A (H1N1) influenza pandemic of 2009 in Argentina, the United States and Venezuela. The results indicate that newspapers followed efforts by public health authorities to create public engagement and, simultaneously, to contain a sense of alarm and control discourse about the pandemic.