Framing Epizootic Diseases in Mass Media

Abstract

This article deals with general and specific aspects of how Romanian media covered the African swine flu crisis between 2014 and 2018. The analysis was mainly based on the available ground of media framing theory. The mediatic tone of reporting the African swine flu predicament complies with the pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis stages, as identified in the literature. Concerning the Romanian media approach on the African swine flu subject, the economic consequences and the mediatic leadership frames proved to be strongly related to similar inter-human and zoonotic diseases. The Romanian coverage of epizootics' main frames indicates a detached approach to the subject with exciting variations regarding the connections between information units and the general norms of mediatic content. This research suggests a few remarkable aspects that hint at current changes in the journalistic paradigm and the need to acknowledge crisis communication's significance when dealing with epizootic diseases.

Keywords

• African swine flu
• media
• risk
• crisis communication
• framing