Mediated Medication-Risk Messages: A Content Analysis of Print News Coverage of Increased Medication Risk

The social amplification of risk framework approaches risk as a combination of the objective risk of physical harm and the process through which individuals interpret the hazard. Within that framework, this study included a content analysis of media coverage of a changed risk profile of prescription medication. Considering frequency of news coverage as one cue to audience attention, results indicate that veterans as an at-risk population garner more media attention than children as an at-risk population. The concept of amplification was associated with an amplifying lead, the use of narrative, the identification of children as the at-risk population, and article length.