Overview

When an epidemic strikes, media outlets are central to how an outbreak is framed and understood. While reporters construct stories intended to inform the public and convey essential information from doctors and politicians, news narratives also serve as historical records, capturing sentiments, responses, and fears throughout the course of the epidemic.Constructing the Outbreak demonstrates how news reporting on epidemics communicates more than just information about pathogens; rather, prejudices, political agendas, religious beliefs, and theories of disease also shape the message. Analyzing seven epidemics spanning more than two hundred years -- from Boston's smallpox epidemic and Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic in the eighteenth century to outbreaks of diphtheria, influenza, and typhoid in the early twentieth century -- Katherine A. Foss discusses how shifts in journalism and medicine influenced the coverage, preservation, and fictionalization of different disease outbreaks. Each case study highlights facets of this interplay, delving into topics such as colonization, tourism, war, and politics. Through this investigation into what has been preserved and forgotten in the collective memory of disease, Foss sheds light on current health care debates, like vaccine hesitancy.

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9781625345288

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Reviews

Well-written and engaging, Constructing the Outbreak is a particularly timely study, given the growing challenges to scientific research on vaccine-preventable illnesses. - Robert B. Hackey, author of Cries of Crisis: Rethinking the Heath Care Debate With meticulous research featuring a wealth of media and archival resources, Katherine A. Foss makes fascinating observations on the connections between these horrific epidemics and the cultures of each era, with a clarity and accessibility that will appeal to both experts and general readers. - Janice Hume, author of Popular Media and the American Revolution: Shaping Collective Memory In her new book, Katherine A. Foss, professor of media studies at Middle Tennessee University, traces the multifaceted layers of the connection between epidemics, media, and cultural contexts shaping the perception and representations of outbreaks. [...] The different chapters give a detailed, grippingly narrated account of the outbreaks. - Connections Journal

Well-written and engaging, Constructing the Outbreak is a particularly timely study, given the growing challenges to scientific research on vaccine-preventable illnesses. --Robert B. Hackey, author of Cries of Crisis: Rethinking the Heath Care Debate With meticulous research featuring a wealth of media and archival resources, Katherine A. Foss makes fascinating observations on the connections between these horrific epidemics and the cultures of each era, with a clarity and accessibility that will appeal to both experts and general readers.--Janice Hume, author of Popular Media and the American Revolution: Shaping Collective Memory

Author Information

Katherine A. Foss is professor of journalism and strategic media at Middle Tennessee State University.

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