From Silence to Scandal

The Media's Difficulty in Covering the Topic of Asbestos
By Emmanuel Henry
English

FROM SILENCE TO SCANDAL News media's difficulty in taking up the asbestos issue

This article analyses some of the logics underlying the functioning of the media sphere that could explain why, within a few months, the asbestos issue switched from a misjudged problem and/or one seen as being of little interest, to a full-blown public health scandal. It highlights first the importance, in journalism, of professional routines of selection (what news is considered relevant) and construction (how to interest the public) of news; and second, the profound dependence of the field of news production on outside social groups that contribute to the definition of the problem as it appears publicly. Some of the characteristics of trajectories leading from marginal definition of a problem to take-up in the media are described.

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