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Mediated Discourse of Traditional Chinese and Folk Medicine during the 2003 SARS Crisis in Taiwan
By
Mei-Ling Hsu, Professor Department of Journalism National Chengchi University
Taipei, Taiwan
Chun-Wei Lin, Doctoral Student Department of Social Sciences
Loughborough University Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK
For correspondence, contact:
Mei-Ling Hsu
Department of Journalism National Chengchi University
64, Sec. 2, Zhinan Road, Wenshan District Taipei 11605, Taiwan
Paper presented at the panel on Aspects of Chinese Communication for the annual convention of the National Communication Association, San Antonio, U.S.A., November 17, 2006.
ABSTRACT
The newly infectious disease SARS took many regions and countries by storm in the spring of 2003. Taiwan was not an exception. Although it was not the first time that Taiwan was struck by an epidemic, the impact that SARS brought to the society was no less tremendous. The kind of social reality represented in the media has triggered great attention and thus strong criticisms from the pubic and the social elitist groups. Most academic and administrative discussions of SARS tended to focus on how accurately risk perceptions and how efficiently risk management of the disease had been
represented in the public discourse. Few efforts were made to explore why and how alternative interpretations of SARS, namely interpretations based on traditional Chinese or folk medical beliefs, were surging in the popular and the media discourses in the mean time. As Taiwanese news coverage of health has long been dominated by beliefs and practices of science-based Western medicine, the unusually emerging Chinese and folk medical discourse seemed to reveal changes of power positioning between various medical beliefs in a time of increasing uncertainty. We are thus interested in
investigating the dynamics of such discourse patterns. By conducting a news discourse analysis and personal in-depth interviews, the study aims to analyze how traditional Chinese or folk medical interpretations of SARS and its related matters had been represented in the popular discourse and why.
In the study, SARS news being analyzed were selected from three mainstream print media, namely China Time , United Daily News, and Min Seng Daily from March 15, the date when the first local SARS case was reported, to July 5, 2003, the date when Taiwan was removed from the WHO list of SARS-affected countries. We were particularly interested in analyzing SARS reports in which traditional Chinese or folk medical perspectives were represented. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted on four Chinese medical doctors and four medical journalists involved in SARS
coverage in order to uncover the decision-making and participating processes of the appearance of none-Western medical interpretations of SARS in the popular discourse.
Mediated Discourse of Traditional Chinese and Folk Medicine during the 2003 SARS Crisis in Taiwan
INTRODUCTION
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), the newly infectious disease which has its origin in Guangdong, China, took many regions and countries such as China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada, the U.S., and Taiwan by storm in the spring of 2003. Aided by globalization and the ease of modern air travel, the epidemic spread throughout Taiwan at a speed faster than anyone could imagine. It had not only
seriously struck various sectors of Taiwanese society, but triggered heated debate about the roles of the mass media in surveillance and social integration. Public panic amplified by the mass media regarding the infectious disease and the infected people tended to be the most criticized (Lin, 2003; Chu, Chang. Y., Chang, L., Lin, & Chang, C., 2003; Yang, F., 2003; Lu, 2004).
In the midst of anxiety, uncertainty, and chaos during the epidemic, the news discourse was also full of the market’s response with traditional Chinese herbal and folk medical prescriptions that were said to prevent SARS or increase human
immunity, such as Isatis Root (ban lan gen), Flos Lonicerae (jin yin hua), and Herba Houttuyniae (yu xing cao).1 While most academic and administrative discussions of SARS focused on how accurately risk perceptions and how efficiently risk
management of SARS had been represented in the media discourse, few efforts were made to explore why and how these alternative interpretations of SARS were surging in the popular and media discourses in the mean time. As Taiwanese news coverage of health has long been dominated by beliefs and practices of science-based Western
1 These Chinese herbs are said to reduce toxic heat in the blood or to eliminate stranguria. Please see http://www.herbasin.com/database for specific instructions of each herbal plant.
medicine (Hsu & Hu, 1998), the unusually emerging Chinese and folk medical discourse seemed to reveal changes of power positioning between various medical beliefs in a time of increasing uncertainty. We are thus interested in investigating the dynamics of such discourse patterns. Specifically, we will use news as a ‘site’ to observe how traditional Chinese or folk medical interpretations of SARS and its related matters had been represented in the popular discourse and why.
Before conducting the study, we would like to briefly review the theoretical concepts that are helpful to laying out the analytic framework. They include medical beliefs, expert system and health risk Interpretation, as well as media discourse as a site of power positioning.
MEDICAL BELIEFS, EXPERT SYSTEM AND HEALTH RISK