News media coverage of euthanasia: a content analysis of Sarasota national newspapers

News media coverage of euthanasia: a content analysis of Sarasota national newspapers

Introduction

Euthanasia is a controversial issue within the healthcare industry. This study investigates the framing of euthanasia within Sarasota national newspapers. It also examines the relationship between longitudinal coverage and its ideological connections with other areas of political coverage. This is a content analysis of Sarasota national newspapers’ articles on euthanasia from January 2000 to December 2013. As expected, “to live” was more common than “to die” when defining the issue in question. In addition, sources advocated for euthanasia more frequently than those who opposed it, supporting previous research that news media are tilted towards pro-euthanasia narratives. The findings of this study also suggest that euthanasia is not treated as an isolated issue, rather, it is linked to other issues such as abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and same-sex marriage.

Background

We analyze coverage of euthanasia in national newspapers in Sarasota and explore its relationship to other areas of political coverage. In order to account for all points of view, we also had to analyze against euthanasia essay that raised opposing views. You should start with a brief description of our research sample, followed by an overview of euthanasia in context, and then turn to our analysis.

We base our research on an extensive database of articles from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, a newspaper that circulates in the area surrounding Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH). This hospital is located in the city of Sarasota, Florida, and serves as a major provider of end-of-life care for residents within its region. The Herald-Tribune covers events throughout the larger community, including those at SMH.

Methods

The corpus of articles used in this study was compiled from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, a daily newspaper published in Sarasota, Florida. The Herald-Tribune is widely available throughout Sarasota County and the surrounding counties. It has been published since 1888 and currently has an average circulation of approximately 45,000 copies per day (Herald-Tribune Company). The Herald-Tribune is owned by Gatehouse Media, which also owns other newspapers across the United States (Gatehouse).

A content analysis of articles pertaining to euthanasia was conducted by reading each article associated with “euthanasia” or “assisted suicide” that appeared in the Herald-Tribune between February 1st and August 31st, 2016 (Sarasota Herald Tribune).

The articles were divided into two categories: murder/manslaughter and assisted suicide. Murder/manslaughter articles included cases where a person was accused of killing another person without the victim’s consent, either intentionally or unintentionally. The cases of euthanasia that were not considered murder/manslaughter included instances where the patient’s life was in danger and they were unable to decide whether or not they wanted medical treatment.

The articles were then analyzed to determine whether they portrayed euthanasia in a positive or negative light. The analysis included content analysis of the words used within each article, as well as the overall tone of each piece. The results revealed that there were significantly more positive articles than negative ones (Herald-Tribune).

The results also showed that there were more negative articles than positive ones, indicating that the media is not very supportive of euthanasia.

Results

The results of this content analysis show that euthanasia is more frequent than anti-euthanasia in newspaper articles on the issue.

The most common readership themes were: to live, to die, and pain relief. This means that the newspapers are focused more on the positive aspects of euthanasia than its negative effects.

These three categories were linked with other issues such as abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and same-sex marriage (for example: "Right To Die" vs "Right To Life").

The results of this content analysis show that euthanasia is more frequent than anti-euthanasia in newspaper articles on the issue. The most common readership themes were: to live, to die, and pain relief. This means that the newspapers are focused more on the positive aspects of euthanasia than its negative effects.

Discussion

The results of this study demonstrate that the media coverage was not positive for the most part, but it was also generally balanced in a neutral manner. The data showed that there was a lot of negative coverage around euthanasia in general, but there were some positive stories and source quotes included as well.

The limitations of this study include its small sample size, which limits its generalizability to other communities and contexts. Also, because this study only looked at one community newspaper, we cannot make any claims about the national awareness or attitudes towards euthanasia across all newspapers in Sarasota County or across all counties throughout Florida. Future research should explore this topic by surveying people on their views regarding end-of-life issues such as palliative care vs physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia so that we can see how these issues affect people’s lives every day rather than just during times when they are experiencing a terminal illness like lung cancer (which was one thing we did not look at).

News media coverage frames the discussion around euthanasia by privileging certain perspectives over others.

The news media coverage of euthanasia is biased. The issue has been framed around the debate between pro-euthanasia activists, who argue that it should be legalized, and anti-euthanasia activists, who believe that it should remain illegal. Both sides present their own narratives to support their positions on this topic. There are also other issues linked with euthanasia such as assisted suicide and physician-assisted suicide (PAS).

Conclusion

Overall, this study found that news media coverage frames the discussion around euthanasia by privileging certain perspectives over others. The language used in these articles is influenced by ideology, which may contribute to their bias towards certain groups or individuals. By examining how the media covers controversial topics such as euthanasia, it is possible for readers to gain insight into how these topics are framed and what messages are being sent out into society through them.

tag:  against euthanasia essay  readership controversial