Care-Based Practices in Health News: Why and How U.S. Health Journalists Include Exemplars in Their Reporting

Abstract

Newsgathering practices are tailored to elite sources, such as researchers and health experts, and may not serve exemplar sources, ordinary citizens sharing personal health information. In a survey, 629 U.S. health journalists share their motivations for using exemplars and use of care-based practices in source interactions. Health journalists use care-based interactions, like added transparency during interviews, more with exemplars than with experts. Still, health journalists remain less likely overall to grant narrative control to exemplar sources, even though they value these sources’ experiential expertise.