Author/Editor		Poler-Kovačič, Melita; Erjavec, Karmen
Title		The image of doctors in the Slovenian dailypress: white mafia or hardworking altruists?
Translated title		Podoba zdravnikov v slovenskem dnevnem tisku: bela mafija ali delavni altruisti?
Type		članek
Source		Zdrav Vestn
Vol. and No.		Letnik 80, št. 3
Publication year		2011
Volume		str. 182-7
Language		eng
Abstract		Background: News media portrayals of doctors (co-)construct public opinion on the medical profession. There have been only a few studies on media representations of doctors, which researched the quality press only and did not use quantitative methods to measure evaluations of doctors. Methods: The study tries to fill this research gap by an analysis of doctors' representation in five most-read Slovenian daily newspapers from 15 March to 15 September 2010. Quantitative content analysis and qualitative critical discourse analysis were used to verify the hypothesis that among media there are statistically significant differences in doctors' evaluations. Results: The dailies mostly represented doctors neutrally (41.6 %); a negative evaluation was found in 38.4 % and positive in 20.0 % of news items. Statistically significant differences were established among the media. The tabloid Slovenske novice published the majority of news items that negatively evaluated doctors (33.2 %), and the least with a positive evaluation (1.7 %). Among actors, Fides and the Medical Chamber of Slovenia were evaluated particularly negatively. All dailies published black and white images of doctors: 'hardworking' and 'overburdened' young residents work overtime, senior physicians are 'lazy', 'blackmailers', and 'the greedy ones'. Conclusions: There is an ambivalent and oversimplified coverage of doctors in the Slovenian press. They are represented both negatively and positively. A challenge for the future research would be a study on views about doctors in diverse media and public opinion.
Descriptors		NEWSPAPERS ATTITUDE TO HEALTH PHYSICIAN'S ROLE SLOVENIA