Media Framing of the Ebola Crisis

Abstract

This study examines the role of international media framing in coverage of Ebola. A quantitative content analysis compared framing techniques in Ebola coverage across BBC Monitoring, The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph (UK), and The Straits Times (Singapore) in the 2000-2001 and 2014-2015 outbreaks. Results show that mutation contagion was by far the most frequently appearing frame in the media. Recent media coverage also mimicked the tendency to represent Ebola as distinctively “African,” as found in research on the 1990s Ebola outbreak. Additionally, the portrayal of Ebola as a globalized threat was especially important in coverage of the 2014 outbreak. Overall, media coverage of the Ebola crisis appeared highly politicized and event-based. Particularly because the media serve as the primary source of information about infectious disease epidemics for much of the public, their framing has implications for how the world views Ebola.