Romanian Media Coverage of Food. Between Emotional Diets and Ratonal Medical Advices

Valentina  Marinescu

Valentina Marinescu Bucharest University

Keywords: Nutrition, health, mass media coverage, Romania

Abstract

The article had searched answers at the following research questions: “What are the main aspects related to the theme “food” presented by the Romanian media?” and “How are the topics related to “food” covered in articles published in the Romanian media?” The research took the shape of a quantitative content analysis of the articles published in the Romanian media between January 1, 2014 and January 1, 2017. The analysis of coverage in the Romanian media of food indicates the minimal appeal to scientific evidence in the coverage of this topic - almost half of all articles did not mention a person or document when they addressed the subject of food. Secondly, the focus of the articles was almost exclusively on the coverage of certain aspects of food in relation to health and disease, nutrition in general and diseases related to food and nutrition. This has led to very little coverage of other aspects - in particular those related to food production, national and European legislation on food and nutrition, consumer rights in food and nutrition.

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