Work

From Witch-Doctoring to Holistic Well-Being: Journalistic Representations of Three Influential Estonian CAM Doctors

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: With the aim to illustrate the complex relations between complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and biomedicine, we examine how journalists have represented three influential Estonian CAM doctors. Our analysis of 36 journalistic texts published between 1996 and 2018 about these CAM doctors focuses on the similarities and the differences between the representations. Our study demonstrates how journalistic decisions shape the representations of CAM doctors, making journalists important actors in the debates between CAM and biomedicine. Due to the high polarisation between CAM and biomedicine in the Estonian media landscape, CAM doctors, as controversial figures, face constant pressure to make choices when participating in the public sphere. If CAM doctors choose a passive media strategy, it can lead to more polarised journalistic representations of CAM-related activities.

Source: Ethnologia Europaea

DOI: 10.16995/ee.3409

Authors: Katre Koppel, Marko Uibu

Institution: University of Tartu

Language: English

Topic: Media Studies and Communication

Subfield: Communication

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Eesti Teadusagentuur, Tartu Ülikool, European Regional Development Fund

Award: Vernacular Interpretations of the Incomprehensible: Folkloristic Perspectives Towards Uncertainty