Doctoring the Media

The Reporting of Health and Medicine
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-43299-9
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 310 Seiten, Format (B × H): 138 mm x 216 mm

Reihe: Routledge Revivals

First published in 1988, Doctoring the Media by Anne Karpf offers a lively and incisive critique of how the broadcast media reports on health and medicine. From the wartime Radio Doctor to TV coverage of the AIDS crisis, Karpf examines the media’s portrayal of medicine as a triumphant conqueror of disease, often through sensationalized narratives of “miracle cures.” She critiques the media’s reliance on official medical definitions, neglect of the social determinants of health, and uncritical promotion of 1980s health fads, which she argues may have done more harm than good.

Through case studies on childbirth, disability, alternative medicine, and moral panics over surrogate mothers, herpes, and AIDS, Karpf reveals the medical profession’s profound influence on media narratives and the challenges faced by medical program-makers. She also explores the cultural significance of medical dramas and comedies, uncovering deeper messages in shows like Dr. Kildare and Carry On Nurse.

This engaging and thought-provoking book concludes by analyzing the real and imagined effects of medical programming on society and speculating on its future. With a new preface for this reissue, Doctoring the Media is essential reading for students and scholars of medical sociology, media studies, and sociology.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Karpf, Anne

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften
• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizin, Gesundheitswesen Public Health, Gesundheitsmanagement, Gesundheitsökonomie, Gesundheitspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Mediensoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

About the Author Errata Preface to the Reissue Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Doctoring the Box 2. Health Talk: 1928- 1962 3. The Birth of the Patient 4. It's a Natural: Childbirth and the Media 5. Crippling Images 6. Inside the Box: Media Factors Shaping Medical Programmes 7. Outside the Box: Medical Expertise and the Power to Define 8. Moral Panics and Miracle Cures 9. Take Heart: Transplants and the Media 10. Crises and the Management of Controversy 11. Curing by Caring: The Doctor in Medical Drama 12. Playing Doctors and Nurses 13.  Unsound Effects? The Media's Impact on the Audience Conclusion Notes Index

Über Autor(innen)

Anne Karpf is a medical sociologist, writer and award-winning journalist. Her five books of nonfiction have been translated into 13 languages. She is Professor of Life Writing and Culture at London Metropolitan University, where she co-directs the Centre for Life Writing and Oral History (CLiOH).