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Avian flu: the creation of expectations in the interplay between science and the media

  1. Brigitte Nerlich,
  2. Christopher Halliday

Article first published online: 6 FEB 2007

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.00517.x

Issue

Sociology of Health & Illness

Sociology of Health & Illness

Volume 29, Issue 1, pages 46–65, January 2007

Additional Information

How to Cite

Nerlich, B. and Halliday, C. (2007), Avian flu: the creation of expectations in the interplay between science and the media. Sociology of Health & Illness, 29: 46–65. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.00517.x

Author Information

  1. Institute of Genetics, Biorisks and Society, University of Nottingham

*Address for correspondence: Brigitte Nerlich, Institute for the Study of Genetics, Biorisks and Society, Law and Social Sciences Building, West Wing, University Park, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RDe-mail: Brigitte.Nerlich@nottingham.ac.uk

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 6 FEB 2007
  2. Article first published online: 6 FEB 2007

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Keywords:

  • avian influenza;
  • sociology of expectations;
  • metaphors;
  • pragmatics;
  • sociology of fear

Abstract

This paper examines the emerging cultural patterns and interpretative repertoires in reports of an impending pandemic of avian flu in the UK mass media and scientific journals at the beginning of 2005, paying particular attention to metaphors, pragmatic markers (‘risk signals’), symbolic dates and scare statistics used by scientists and the media to create expectations and elicit actions. This study complements other work on the metaphorical framing of infectious disease, such as foot and mouth disease and SARS, tries to link it to developments in the sociology of expectations and applies insights from pragmatics both to the sociology of metaphor and the sociology of expectations.

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