Constructing the outbreak : epidemics in media and collective memory / Katherine A. Foss.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Foss, Katherine A., 1980- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Epidemics--Press coverage--United States--History.

Epidemics.

Journalism--Social aspects--United States--History.

Journalism.

Journalism--Social aspects.

History.

Press coverage.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 275 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2020]

Summary:

"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"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: ch. 1 Inoculating The Speckled Monster The Boston Press In The 1721 Smallpox Epidemic

ch. 2 Philadelphia 1793 Yellow Fever Shapes The Town And Nation

ch. 3 From Health Seeker To Stigmatized The Recognition Of TB As Contagious

ch. 4 Blaming The Healthy Carrier Typhoid Fever And The Case Of Mary Mallon

ch. 5 "The Kaiser Laughs When You Spread Disease" Influenza And The "Great War" In Lawrence, Kansas

ch. 6 Racing "The Strangler" The Nome Diphtheria Outbreak Of 1925

ch. 7 Funding The "Polio Pledge" The March Of Dimes And The Forgotten Epidemic Of 1952.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781625345271

1625345275

9781625345288

1625345283

OCLC:

1154538189