Many Stories, One Science? Differentiating Public Health Framing in British Newspapers

Science journalism in print and online media played a significant role in communicating science in COVID-19 public health information. Journalists translating messages on scientific advice to laypersons on a range of issues such as the pandemic might vary according to a specific type of public health information. The study reported in this paper used Framing Theory and Nature of Science (NOS) quality criteria to examine how four British news media portrayed different types of public health and policy information from November 2021 to February 2022, a period when the Omicron variant thrived. Framing analysis concerns how news media select certain aspects of science in the healthcare crisis and make them salient to the general public. NOS refers to different facets of the scientific enterprise such as its aims, values, practices and social context. Frames of science and NOS quality criteria were significantly associated with certain topics of public health information, for example, mention of scientific practices was associated with reports of case statistics. Coupling framing analysis with NOS quality criteria ensures that public engagement with science is based on a robust model of science journalism.