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Silence and Agony: A Comparison of Chronic Pain Depictions in Newspapers, Magazines, and Blogs by People with Chronic Pain

Donovan, Robin K.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1292457458

Abstract Details

2011, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Journalism (Communication).
This study compared depictions of chronic pain in newspapers and magazines with blogs by people with chronic pain. Using critical discourse analysis, the study identified and compared frames, definitions of people with chronic pain, symbols and metaphors, and depictions of otherness/unhomelikeness. Marked differences were found among blogs and mainstream print media, with lesser differences between newspapers and magazines. By defining people with chronic pain by their illnesses, downplaying the impact of persistent pain on everyday life, and relating chronic pain to character or mental fortitude, magazines and newspapers contributed to the stigmatization and otherization bloggers described. Mainstream print media authors also portrayed chronic pain as less impactful, less agonizing, and less real than bloggers’ descriptions. As such, newspapers and magazines made chronic pain more palatable to readers, but deprived them of the knowledge people with chronic pain glean through the lived experience of illness.
Bernhard Debatin, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Michael Sweeney, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Joseph Bernt, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
145 p.
Communication; Health; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Social Research
chronic pain; persistent pain; stigma; framing; illness narratives; critical discourse analysis; blogs; health bloggers; print media; mass media depictions of pain; unhomelikeness; otherization; lived experience of pain; self-discrepancy theory

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Donovan, R. K. (2011). Silence and Agony: A Comparison of Chronic Pain Depictions in Newspapers, Magazines, and Blogs by People with Chronic Pain [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1292457458

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Donovan, Robin. Silence and Agony: A Comparison of Chronic Pain Depictions in Newspapers, Magazines, and Blogs by People with Chronic Pain. 2011. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1292457458.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Donovan, Robin. "Silence and Agony: A Comparison of Chronic Pain Depictions in Newspapers, Magazines, and Blogs by People with Chronic Pain." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1292457458

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1292457458
670
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.