Health sciences on Brazilian TV

Authors

  • Vanessa Brasil de Carvalho Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Programa de Educação, Gestão e Difusão em Biociências, Química Biológica. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
  • Luisa Massarani Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Museu da Vida, Núcleo de Estudos da Divulgação Científica. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29397/reciis.v10i2.1063

Keywords:

Media coverage of science, Coverage of health, Advertisements, Content analysis, Television, Globo TV, Record TV.

Abstract

In this article, we present the results of a study on the broadcasting of scientific issues related to health on two main channels of Brazilian TV: TV Globo and TV Record. We analyzed daily its programmes over two constructed weeks, which were representative of six months in 2013, totalizing 672 hours. We observed that the presence of health sciences is low (2.7%) and the scientific aspects appeared in a secondary manner. The advertisement was the most common TV category, contributing to a positive approach of science. Although the scientists has not appeared frequently, the scientific language was widely used as a way of legitimating the TV programmes. This result demonstrates that science is socially important, providing credibility to different kinds of information – a fact that becomes more relevant when one considers that TV is the most present mass media communication in Brazilian homes and it has great cultural importance in Brazil.

Published

2016-06-30

How to Cite

de Carvalho, V. B., & Massarani, L. (2016). Health sciences on Brazilian TV. Revista Eletrônica De Comunicação, Informação & Inovação Em Saúde, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.29397/reciis.v10i2.1063

Issue

Section

Original articles