Does health news depend on patients’ nationality? An ebola case study

Abstract

It is increasingly common to see the issue of health included in the general press, particularly when the topic being discussed affects developed nations. This research project shows the differences that appear in press coverage when there is a relevant event, such as an epidemic, which affects both developed, western nations and underdeveloped African ones. This work shows that, in the case of the Ebola epidemic – which was recognised as such by the World Health Organisation in 2014 –, the press only gave the problem greater coverage when there were cases of westerners being directly affected by it. That can be observed in the results of the content analysis in three daily newspapers from different countries: El País (Spain), Le Figaro (France) and Reforma (Mexico), between March 2014 and January 2015.