Fetal alcohol syndrome in the Canadian press : a discourse analysis
Date
1998
Authors
Huber, Anna-Maria
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Abstract
The discourse analysis of newspaper articles about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) published between 1977 to 1994 in six Canadian daily newspapers sheds light on how the phenomenon of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome was constructed in the press.
Within two decades of being identified, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome came to be seen as an epidemic, and as the totally preventable number one cause of mental disability in North America. The construction of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in the print media was shaped by five key events which are described. Voices absent and present in the discourse, and an examination of the messages are examined. In addition three themes are explored: 1) The use of numbers in the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome discotuse; 2) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome identified as an aboriginal problem; and 3) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome as a women-blaming issue.