The analytic framework adapted in the current study is critical discourse analysis (CDA) developed by Fairclough (1992). CDA perceives language use as a mode of action, in a dialectical relationship with other facets of the social. The dialectical relationship is socially shaped as well as socially shaping. CDA aims to explore the tension between these two sides of language use, uncovering the
connections between the use of language and the exercise of power which are often not clear to people (Fairclough, 1995, pp.54-55).
Fairclough’s (1995) original CDA of communicative event consists of the analysis of relationships between three dimensions of that event: text, discourse practice, and sociocultural practice. The current investigation is thus an endeavor to
tackle the relationships between SARS-related news texts, processes of SARS news production and consumption, and the immediate/wider contexts SARS crisis was embedded within. Specifically, the language use in the SARS crisis will be studied by a qualitative textual analysis of SARS news. The news production/consumption processes, that is, the decision-making and participatory processes of the appearance of none-Western medical interpretations of SARS in the popular discourse, will be uncovered by in-depth interviews with selected key persons involved in SARS discourse. The interviews, together with relevant document and literature reviews, will also provide us with information to understand the contexts where power
positioning between various medical beliefs occurred. It is noteworthy, however, that our emphasis will be on the former two: textual analysis and in-depth interviews.
Textual Analysis of SARS news
SARS news being analyzed was selected from three print media, namely, China Times, United Daily News, and Ming Seng Daily.2 The news texts for the SARS discourse analysis were examined from the first reported local case on 1 March to 5 July 2003, the date when Taiwan was dropped from the SARS list of the World Health Organization (WHO). We were particularly interested in analyzing SARS reports in which traditional Chinese or folk medical perspectives were represented.
A specific sample was thus selected from the on-line database systems of the aforementioned five news media, based on a search of the following combination of key words: SARS, SARS & traditional Chinese medicine, SARS & Chinese herbal medicine, SARS & ban lan gen, SARS & jin yin hua, SARS & yu xing cao, SARS &
folk prescription, SARS & penalty, SARS & misleading advertisement and so on. By eliminating those articles that do not address medical beliefs in the texts, our database news search generated 240 articles considered for further analysis in the study. They include 92 articles from the United Daily News, 62 from Min Seng Daily, and 86 from China Times.
After collecting the relevant news articles, we looked into the texts to identify the patterns and changes in the discourse in relation to our research questions. As the major purpose of our study is to decode the meanings underlying the news texts, instead of analyzing all the articles in detail, we will focus on certain selected texts that can help illustrate and interpret the major findings. Furthermore, as the study aims to examine the patterns and changes of the discourse in the mainstream news media as a whole, we will not compare the differences in news reporting among the five news media.
2 Ming Seng Daily is the only one newspaper with a specialized medical page for health professionals in Taiwan.
In-depth Personal Interviews
This study also conducted in-depth personal interviews with selected key persons involved in SARS discourse construction with the focus on the processes rather than outcomes or products of the SARS coverage in Taiwan. By doing this, we were able to obtain information that could not be gained by observation (Berger, 2000) or textual analysis of the news alone.
Specifically, we recruited three medical journalists from the mainstream media, three Chinese medical doctors who have been the frequent expert sources for the news media, and one governmental official in charge of traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy matters.
The journalists we interviewed had reported SARS extensively from April to June 2003 and had substantial experience in medical reporting. These in-depth interviews were conducted between August 25 and September 10, 2005. The interviews averaged from one to two hours in length. The abbreviated names and affiliated professions of the interviewees, as well as the dates of interviews are listed in Table 1.
Questions for the interviewees varied, depending on each interviewee’s roles in
interpreting SARS-related health risk in the popular and media discourse. Probes were used whenever necessary. Each interviewee’s framing and structuring of responses was
respected (Marshall & Rossman, 1989). Generally, the journalists were asked about their judgments and experiences in reporting non-Western medical practices during the SARS crisis and why. Traditional Chinese medical doctors and the CCMP official were asked about their perceptions of TCM and folk medicine in preventing or curing SARS. To help interviewees address these issues more efficiently, major SARS events were used as prompts during the interviews.
Table 1: A Profile of Participants in the In-depth Interviews Name of
Interviewee
Affiliated Profession Date of Interview
HT Medical reporter, China Times (CT) August 26, 2005 HJ Local news reporter in Kaohsiung, United Daily News
(UDN)
September 5, 2005
LYC Medical reporter, Min Seng Daily (MSD) September 10, 2005 YH Traditional Chinese medical doctor in Taichung August 25, 2005 LJ Traditional Chinese medical doctor; chairperson of
nationwide TCM association
August 29, 2005
CW Traditional Chinese medical doctor; chairman of Taipei TCM association
September 9, 2005
LYH Chairperson, Committee of Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy (CCMP), Department of Health
August 26, 2005