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The Media: Root of False Perceptions Surrounding Cancer
Cancer in the Media:
When medical information is presented to the public, it is often portrayed in a way
dissimilar to how a doctor or nurse would present such topics, as noted by Clive Seale, a
professor of Medical Sociology (Seale 51). Instead, the media is more inclined to focus only on
the highlights of a health issue. This is also the case with media relating to medicine specifically
cancer With cancer, the focus is only geared towards a select few cancer types, providing them
with more media coverage even if they do not have the highest incidence rate among all cancer
types. Therefore, through personal observation of how different cancer types are represented in
the media, it has come to my attention that there are certain cancer types that are seemingly
absent from the media. But is it possible that these neglected cancers are more detrimental to the
human population than the most well known cancers?
My research begins with the comparison of breast cancer and colorectal cancer; a recent
scholarly article, written by Juanne N. Clarke, highlights the misleading information surrounding
these cancers based on their presentation in the media. She draws attention to the present
discrepancy between their popularity in the media and their respective incidence among the
public population. Although she already provides this invaluable information pertaining to my
topic, it is not the central focus of her article; therefore, Ied(past tense because u have written the
article) to explore further the reasons behind the discrepancies that she identifies. Ied to discover
the driving force behind this media trend.
The exploration of each cancer’s history will help to discern why some cancers are more
prominent in the media, and why others appear to be nearly absent from the media’s agenda.
Through the analysis and evaluation of the history of breast cancer, the cancer that has the most
media coverage, a standard will be created. I am speculating that through further research breast cancer has appeared in a certain media type throughout its history which has allowed its
awareness to flourish. Because there is a certain motive and audience for each media type, I am
expecting one type to be more influential for creating its awareness Thus, if certain cancers
appear in different media types it can explain their media attention. And if a certain cancer
appears in a particular media type or more than one media type, then their awareness among the
population and their research funding will increase. Therefore, this trend might have been
created due to a lack of awareness over the years that then led to a lack of financial resources for
research funding. In contrast, cancers like breast cancer have increased awareness with
advertising now a mainstream option for promoting awareness and funding for a deadly disease.
By finding out the reasons behind breast cancer’s media attention, I hypothesized that other
cancers do not receive as much attention because they are lacking one or more of the historical
events present in breast cancer’s past that led to its awareness seen today.
Health Issues in the Media:
The main priority of the medical field is to research health hazards and to try to provide
the most current statistics, treatments, and most successful preventative measures. The media
has different objectives in mind. Their main objective is to capture the attention of the public
through the display of selected information. Clive Seale states that “realist critics of health in the
media” take notice of the media’s “lack of accuracy and the potentially health-damaging effects
of unrealistic portrayals” (51). It is this inflation and deflation of the value of selected
information that builds a cornerstone of the media, captivating the interest of its audience
regardless of the effects that it may produce, most notably the impact that it has on the public’s
knowledge. A study conducted “to evaluate the effect of health information communicated
through an ongoing television drama,” reinforces the idea that information presented through the
entertainment media is retained by its viewers (Brodie 193). The data collected from the surveys
show that there was an increase in knowledge among the public pertaining to health issues after
viewers watched the show. For example, in one episode commercials were shown? that revolved
around HPV, viewers were asked before and after the show if they had ever heard of the disease.
Before the show, 24% of people had heard of HPV, but after watching this specific episode, the
percentage had increased to 47%, showing that viewers not only watched television, but
absorbed the information presented as well (Brodie 194). So what if the media is relaying the
public false perceived information about health issues, information that they also absorb? Such
is the case with the perception of certain cancer types.
Breast Cancer and Colorectal Cancer in the Media:
Although cancer has been present throughout history, it has become a feared and known
disease because of its increasing prevalence. But do we know everything there is to know about
cancer? Most of us would say that we have a general idea about cancer, its effects, and what
factors can contribute to a certain type of cancer, but which ones? We would only be able to
relay information relating to a few select cancer types, such as the most well known breast, lung,
and skin cancers. Thus, the media fails to include other cancer types equally within the media.
However, this is not to say that the most popularized cancers are the most detrimental. A study
performed by Juanne N. Clarke showed how articles pertaining to breast cancer, colorectal
cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer have appeared more within magazines
throughout the 1990s. According to the study however, there is an imbalance between the
frequency of breast cancer present in the media and its actual incidence. The study claims that
breast cancer appears more often in the media, but colorectal cancer actually occurs the most
frequently among the population. However, colorectal cancer did not receive more media
attention than breast cancer even though it affects more people. With the media focusing the
public’s attention on certain cancers, it creates an image of priority and implies that these lesser
heard of cancers are not as important.
The public is only being exposed to specific types of cancer and is being led to
believe that these are the only cancers most concerning to their health. In an issue found in the
scholarly journal entitled Cancer Scope, it reveals how a lack of awareness within the media can
cause certain social groups to be more susceptible to a disease (Printz 1). For example, there is a
discrepancy between colon cancer in white and African American males; more African
American males die from colon cancer than white males, largely due to the reason that these
African Americans are not diagnosed for colon cancer until later in life than white males. This is
a result of the fact that awareness of colon cancer is not targeted enough towards these African
Americans through the media so because ads are geared towards white people, black people
don’t worry about colon cancer?(Printz 3). Therefore these African Americans are living with
the cancer unknowingly and without treatment longer than and eliminate any chance of early
detection. This lack of media attention for this certain health issue therefore, causes the public to
overlook potential insults to their health, and take no preventative measures.
Why Does This Cancer Media Trend Exist?:
This idea of priority in the media must have a root cause. Therefore, I am hypothesizing
that by tracing the history of breast cancer an answer will be found. Awareness could be found
as a result of a specific movement in breast cancer’s past that led to this media trend and its
appearance in different media types. And because there is a different motive behind the
entertainment media, news media, and advertising media, a cancer appearing in one or more of
these media types must each have a different influence on the population. Because, for example,
the entertainment media focuses on capturing its audience through fictional but relatable
situations, and the news media mainly focuses on basic, more reliable information to attract its
audience, a cancer appearing in the news media might create more awareness because it is more
likely to be dependable than an entertainment source. And to draw further conclusions, an
increase in awareness created by the media will more than likely influence the research funding
of each cancer. It is possible that through awareness, through popularizing a cancer, that a
cancer will have more means to increase subject seems to be cancer cancer research. By
focusing on breast cancer specifically and the influence that its history and media types have had
on breast cancer, a relationship will be found between media attention and cancer funding.
The History of Breast Cancer and How it Relates to Research Funding:
Breast cancer has a history that appears to have begun as early as Ancient Egyptian times
(Kedrowski 19). It was in the Western world though where breast cancer developed into an
embarrassing disease. Because of the “sexualized nature of the breast in Western cultures,
women who had symptoms of breast cancer were often ashamed to seek treatment and doctors
were reluctant to examine women’s breasts,” therefore, there was little response to this disease
(Kedrowski 20). But in the 1950s, a women named Terese Lasser founded “an American
Cancer Society,” known as Reach to Recovery (20) . Within this program, women who were
former breast cancer patients would return and visit those recovering from mastectomies, which
led to an increased awareness and to the continuing success of the program’s existence today
(20). As time moved on to the 1970s, “the first national breast cancer organization” called YME was founded, by two women that were previous survivors of breast cancer (21). This
organization is still offered in the US where it is primarily ran by former breast cancer survivors
who provide support for new breast cancer patients and their families (22). The next decade, the
1980s, was focused towards targeting feminist to raise awareness for breast cancer. As a result
of the “publication of Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag and Cancer Journals by Audre
Lorde, both of who are feminists and breast cancer survivors,” breast cancer evolved as hot topic
among feminists during this time (22). It was because of these publications that then led to the
promotion of “consent laws” for breast cancer (22). These “consent laws” declared that once a
doctor diagnosed their patients with breast cancer they were to immediately provide their
patients with treatment options that were only to be carried out with the consent and approval of
the patient (23). Therefore, it is evident by this that the disease of breast cancer was becoming
more emphasized, through the movement of feminists supporting breast cancer and to the laws
being passed to better the conditions of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer. And
most recently in the 1990s is when “grassroots advocacy organizations” became the new
supportive means of breast cancer (24). “In many cases women with breast cancer joined patient
support groups, which provided much-needed information about doctors, treatment options and
possible side effects as well as emotional support,” thus spurring on the awareness of breast
cancer (24). Throughout the different decades of breast cancer in the United States, it is evident
that breast cancer has increased in awareness. Beginning with a single organization, then to the
published works pertaining to breast cancer, and finally grassroots support groups, breast cancer
experienced a snowball effect with awareness. By looking at the history of breast cancer, the
conclusion can be made that mainly women played the role to support breast cancer. The history
of breast cancer shows how women progressed from one step to the next to increase the
popularity of breast cancer.
But on top of just these woman-created support and organizations, this emphasis placed
on breast cancer by women, “whether as reporters, editors, or consumers of news,” is thought to
have led to this media trend (Kedrowski 75). Awareness for breast cancer has increased
extensively over the last decades as evident by its repeated appearance in the media. But what
are the effects of popularizing this cancer? How is the media’s influence impacting the research
funding of breast cancer? In a scholarly journal that addresses the relationships between breast
cancer, the media, and the funding that it receives, it was supported that “breast cancer funding
was significantly associated in the concurrent year for all media types” (Corbett 239). These
media types included the New York Times, health magazines, general magazines, women
magazines, news/business magazines, science magazines, and television in general. Therefore, it
was proven that the media had direct effects on research funding within the same year that these
specific media types were produced. However, was a specific media type more successful in
promoting breast cancer than other media types?
In Kedrowski’s Cancer Activism: Gender, Media, and Public Policy, it was proven that
certain media types are likely to present or direct their focus on different aspects of a disease,
particularly breast cancer (84). The study analyzed media types such as television and local and
national newspapers, comparing and contrasting the information that each one presents. It
showed that information in television news “carried more stories on federal funding, hearings,
ethics, and medical discoveries and fewer on personalities” (85). It also showed that local
newspapers and national newspapers included the least information about funding and ethics,
and focused more on “personalities and support and interest groups” (85). As seen by the
previous evidence, television news focused more on factual information, while newspaper relied
more on personal insight of cancer. However, between television-news and local and national
newspapers, there was more variance among the information that the reporters of each covered
(85). Television news reporters “were more likely to cite experts and persons with the disease,”
while national newspapers cited “medical journals and private organizations” and local
newspapers cited “other media and medical institutions and less likely to cite government
officials and agencies” (85). Looking at these three sources, it is evident that there is a different
motive behind each one. Television news tries to rely on the most factual and actual information
so it presents information that they receive from say a breast cancer specialist. The local
newspapers do not seem to rely on their own information, but instead take information from
other media sources. And the national newspapers also cite other media sources, such as medical
journals, to provide their information how do the different ways they obtain info affect the
transfer of information.. Each one of these sources therefore, portrays a certain dynamic of
breast cancer. I am speculating that since television news only tells the facts, and tends to shine
light on those celebrities who have had cancer before, more people are more likely to believe
these facts and feel for those celebrities who had this disease. The local newspapers and national
newspaper still attract their audience as well though because they are citing other media sources,
and rely more on personal experiences, allowing people to sympathize on a more personal level
even more. Since these newspaper usually include the stories of everyday people who possibly
even live in the community where a local newspaper is distributed, the audience is able to relate
more and consider breast cancer more seriously.
Breast cancer has a history where its awareness has extensively grown throughout the
twentieth century. Being spurred on by the emphasis placed on breast cancer by women, it grew
throughout the past decades, because of the creation of foundations and support groups. Breast
cancer also experienced an increase in awareness as a result of the media’s focus on breast
cancer in various types of media. Since breast cancer was shown to appear in multiple media
types, it increased its funding. But whether or not a certain media type increased this awareness,
and furthermore allowed for more research has not been supported by concrete evidence. Even
though it is shown that media types such as television news and newspaper differ in their
information sources, it is not proven whether or not one is more influential than the other.
Because each source appeals and is presented to a wide range of audiences, like television news,
e or a smaller audience, like a local newspaper, the strategies that each one uses seems to appeal
to each of their respective audiences. For example, television news is usually a broader spectrum
of people than a local newspaper therefore, it needs to include more reliable sources that are first
hand. A local newspaper, on the other hand, is only read by those in that community. Therefore,
it is logical to focus on personal accounts occurring in that area so that the audience can relate. It
also makes sense for them to provide information from other media sources that this audience
has heard of instead of naming government agencies that are not commonly known. In
conclusion for breast cancer, its awareness has increased because of female support and its media
attention. It is shown that all media types combined have led to the success of breast cancer.
Therefore, it is logical to conclude that other cancers either lack a similar type of support
throughout their history and/or that they appear in less media types instead of multiple media
types, leading to the creation of a smaller awareness than breast cancer.
Conclusion for All Cancer Types:
The media is a source that is convenient to rely on, howeve the information that is
presented to the public should be questioned before complely accepting it. The media has the
authoritative position to decide what information will and will not be presented to the public.
Therefore, if more emphasis is placed on a maybe just say cancer at this point. We have zeroed
in on that topic., such as breast cancer the public will begin to believe that breast cancer is the
most harmful cancer to their health, even though this perception is incorrect. It is true however,
that colorectal cancer affects the most among the population, surpassing the occurrence of breast
cancer. But somewhere in the history of colorectal cancer there was a lack of awareness that led
to the media attention that we see today, where an emphasis is placed more on breast cancer
despite its actual incidences within the United States. This media trend of breast cancer is a
result of its women supported movement and its reoccurring appearance in multiple media types,
therefore increases its research funding. So colorectal cancer, like other cancers that receive a
deficient amount of media attention, either did not experience a movement, such as the women
movement behind breast cancer, and/or do not appear in as many media types as breast cancer.
In the end, these cancers that are potentially more detrimental to our health are receiving less
media coverage and are potentially receiving less financial funding for research. Because they
lack a main appearance in the media, these cancers, and more specifically colorectal cancer, are
being deemphasized, while breast cancer continues to thrive off of its inequitable popularity and
increase its resource funding.
One question in mind is that although it may not be deadly do the cancers portrayed in the media
affect the most people.
Works Cited
Brodie, Mollyann, et al. "Communicating Health Information Through The Entertainment
Media." Health Affairs 20.1 (2001): 192-199. Web. 17 Jan. 2011.
Clarke, Juanne N., and Michelle M. Everest. "Cancer in the mass print media: Fear, uncertainty
and the medical model." Social Sciences & Medicine 62.10 (2006): 2591-2600. Web. 17
Jan. 2011.
Corbett, Julia B., and Motomi Mori "Medicine, Media, and Celebrities: News Coverage of
Breast Cancer, 1960-1995." Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 76.2 (1999):
229-249. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.
Kedrowski, Karen M., and Marilyn S. Sarow. Cancer Activism: Gender, Media, and Public
Policy. Champaign, IL: U of Illinois P, 2007. Print.
Printz, Carrie. "Reaching Out to Underserved Populations." Cancer 117.1 (2011): 1-3. Web. 26
Feb. 2011.
Seale, Clive. Media & Health. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Inc, 2002. Print.