MC2621

Birth-Marriage-Death

Resources

Module 5: Media Research Reflections

5.2 Resources

Throughout this course reference has been made to different resources. In this section we list them in one place for anyone interested in knowing the sources we used or who wants to pursue such resources for their own further work.

If you are a media studies student this list gives you an idea of the range of sources that can be used when studying the media reporting of an issue. If you are a journalist or someone who cares for patients (as a professional or family member) this list gives you an idea of where to go for different types of information (or to cross-check what you are reading in the media).

Activity 1

Have a look at the different types of organisations which informed the analysis presented in this course. Are these places you might normally turn to for information? Might any of these categories of organisation be useful to you in future?

Charities representing a particular group of people and/or resources for those people (eg patients) can be invaluable to researchers. It is always a good idea to look at the website of charities or pressure groups addressing any social problem you are exploring  It can also be useful to explore support resources.  For example, resources for patients/families coping with a wide range illness and conditions are available at: https://healthtalk.org. Researchers or journalists writing about any health issues may find this useful for their research too, and might wish to include the link to provide support for their readers.
Research centres have a great deal of expertise and up-to-date knowledge with may not be represented (yet) in publications and often include someone willing to answer questions. At the Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre for example we often help journalists contextualise or make sense of a breaking news story. www.cdoc.org.uk
Professional organisation are an important source of expert information and are often able to help journalists or researchers trying to make sense of an issue – and able to give an important perspective from their own professional point of view.
Press releases from funding bodies can be important to examine. When looking at reporting of a particular science finding, for example, it can be useful to go back to the original press release from the funding organisation e.g. The Medical Research Council https://mrc.ukri.org
Activity 2

Have a look at the different types of resources below – are these resources that might be useful to you in the future?

You can find original copies of some newspaper reports or TV programmes on the newspaper or TV company websites. There are also various media archives which may be accessible via your library or organisation e.g. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/
Transcripts of court judgments give great insight into the reasoning behind particular court decisions. They are often the original source for most legal reporting (although sometimes there is perhaps one reporter in court who observes proceedings and writes up an account too). You can find these judgments here: www.bailii.org
Professional bodies often form working parties to review evidence in a given field and produce guidelines, For this course, for example, we draw on the Royal College of Physicians (2020) guidelines on prolonged disorders of consciousness (coma, the vegetative and minimally conscious state) www.rcplondon.ac.uk/guidelines-policy/prolonged-disorders-consciousness-following-sudden-onset-brain-injury-national-clinical-guidelines.
Activity 3

Twitter is often seen as a site of trolling and trivia. But it can be an interesting source of ideas and interesting links if you use the right hashtag or know a good range of people to follow. At the Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre we use twitter as a platform for exchanging ideas about research, commenting on news stories, and engaging with a learning community. Have a look at #PDOCMediaWatch to see examples of this. Consider how you might use twitter in your own research journey.

Click on the ‘toggle boxes’ below to see tweets we sent out to help crowd-source ideas for this course and some positive dialogue around it.

 

click here for example of using twitter to gather materials and share ideas
Activity 4

Have a look at the list of academic papers used to inform this course. Look at the range of journals in which these were published, what can you deduce about some of the diverse  disciplines and expertise brought to commenting on the issue of ‘coma’ and the media? Use this list if you might like to delve into any area in greater depth.

Academic articles

  • Bossema, F. G,  et al 2019.Expert quotes and exaggeration in health news: a retrospective quantitative content analysis. Wellcome Open Research 4, 56.
  • Casarett, D; Fishman, J, MacMoran, H, Pickard, A, Asch, D (2005) Epidemiology and prognosis of coma in daytime television, BMJ. 2005 Dec 24; 331(7531): 1537–1539. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1322260/
  • Colbeck M. ‘Is she alive? Is she dead?’ Representations of chronic disorders of consciousness in Douglas Coupland’s Girlfriend in a Coma. Med Humanit. 2016;42(3):160-165. doi:10.1136/medhum-2015-010763
  • Daoust A, Racine E. Depictions of ‘brain death’ in the media: medical and ethical implications. J Med Ethics. 2014;40(4):253‐259. doi:10.1136/medethics-2012-101260
  • Fins, J. (2006) “The portrayal of coma in contemporary motion pictures,” Neurology;66 https://www.neurology.org/content/66/9/1300/reply.
  • Kitzinger, J (2014) ‘Media representation of science and health: the case of coma’ in Miller, T (ed) The Routledge Companion to Global Popular Culture, Routledge http://orca.cf.ac.uk/73188/1/MediaRepresentationsComaKitzinger.pdf
  • Kitzinger, J & Kitzinger, C (2017) How (and why) to tweet from the ‘secret’ and shadowy’ Court of Protection. Transparency project www.transparencyproject.org.uk/how-and-why-to-tweet-from-the-secret-and-shadowy-court-of-protection/
  • Kitzinger, J., & Kitzinger, C. (2018). Deaths after feeding-tube withdrawal from patients in vegetative and minimally conscious states: A qualitative study of family experience. Palliative Medicine, 32(7), 1180–1188. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216318766430
  • Kitzinger, J (2019) Can you wake up after decades in a coma? The story behind the headlines. The Conversation.
  • Mogk, (ed) (3013) ‘Different bodies: essays on disability in Film and Television’
  • Nachache, L. (2014) “Context, conspiracy, pseudonyms and self-report data: discussion of reporting consciousness in coma,” JOMEC Journal: Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies www.cardiff.ac.uk/jomec/jomecjournal/3- june2013/Kitzinger_Samuel_Naccache.pdf
  • Nettleton, S, Kitzinger, J and Kitzinger, C (2014) ‘A diagnostic illusory? The case of distinguishing ‘vegetative’ and ‘minimally conscious’ states‘, Social Science and Medicine
  • Racine E., Amaram R., Seidler M., Karczewska M. and Illes J. (2008) “Media coverage of the persistent vegetative state and end-of-life decision-making,” Neurology; 71: 1027– 1032. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2676957/
  • Royal College of Physicians (2020) Prolonged disorders of consciousness following sudden onset brain injury: national clinical guidelines. www.rcplondon.ac.uk/guidelines-policy/prolonged-disorders-consciousness-following-sudden-onset-brain-injury-national-clinical-guidelines
  • Samuel, G and Kitzinger, J  (2014) ‘Context, conspiracy, pseudonyms and self-report data: discussion of reporting consciousness in coma‘, JOMEC Journal: Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies
  • Shakespeare, T. (1999) Art and lies? Representations of disability on film. In: Corker, M. and French, S. (eds.) Disability Discourse Buckingham: Open University Press.
  • Striano, P., Francesca Bifulco. F., Servillo, G (2009) The saga of Eluana Englaro: another tragedy feeding the media, Intensive Care Med (2009) 35:1129–1131 DOI 10.1007/s00134-009-1484-6
  • Sumner, P.et al. 2014. The association between exaggeration in health related science news and academic press releases: retrospective observational study. BMJ 349, article number: g7015.
  • Wade, D (2018) How Often Is the Diagnosis of the Permanent Vegetative State Incorrect? A Review of the Evidence https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29338107/
  • Walker, J. (2006) ‘The videographic persistence of Terri Schiavo’ Jumpcut  48 http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc48.2006/SchaivoWalker/index.html
  • Walkman, D. (2006) Schiavo videos — context and reception: timely triage
 
 Jumpcut  48  http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc48.2006/SchiavoWaldman/index.html
  • Wijdicks E. and Wijdicks C. (2006) “The portrayal of coma in contemporary motion pictures,” Neurology 66: 1300-1303 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16682658/
Activity 5 – Films and TV fiction

Throughout the course we’ve discussed soap opera, books or films or TV series which have represented coma.  Here is a list of media sources that feature characters in “coma” Are there some films you would add to this list?

Image of row of coma patients

Image from the trailer of ‘Koma’ (Russian film featuring coma)

Films (some originally books)

  • Coma (1978) (Director Michael Crichton) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077355/
  • Coma (2019) (Nikita Argunov) (An entirely different film than the original ‘coma’)
  • The Descendants, 01:15 12/09/2019, FilmFour, 140 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/02E1CC68?bcast=130108645 (Accessed 25 Aug 2020)
  • Good Bye Lenin!  (2003 German tragic-comedy film)  (Available in German at: ttps://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/0764C28B?bcast=125243996)
  • Hard to Kill  (1990, American action thriller film, directed by Bruce Malmuth)
  • Kill Bill, Volume 1 (2003, Tarantino)
  • Transfers (2017) (Director/producersPatrick Benedek and Claude Scasso)
  • The Vow  (2012 Drama/Romance Movie)
  • Talk to Her (2002) (Spanish: Hable con ella, directed by Pedro Almodóvar)
TV Drama
  • Criminal Minds, Tabula Rasa, 20:00 01/11/2015, Pick TV, 60 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/00C741A8?bcast=116762001 (Accessed 25 Aug 2020)  Drama series following FBI psychological profilers. The team reopen a serial killer’s case when a suspected murderer wakes up from a coma. He may have been involved in crimes committed in Roanoke, Virginia
  • In Plain Sight, Coma Chameleon, 03:30 19/06/2011, ITV London, https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/01C37214?bcast=66156800 (Accessed 25 Aug 2020) Drama about a US Marshal. After being in a coma for three years, an ATF agent wakes up to find out he is now in the witness protection program after a weapons dealer tried to kill him
  • House, Son of Coma Guy, 09:05 17/02/2020, 5*, 60 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/00644901?bcast=131281876 (Accessed 25 Aug 2020). Hospital drama about a maverick, misanthropic New Jersey doctor. House wakes a patient from a coma in order to help treat the man’s dying son. But when he learns he has just 24 hours before his coma will reclaim him, the man checks himself out for a road trip, with House and Wilson in tow
  • Life on Mars, 22:00 11/08/2008, BBC4, 60 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/00568965?bcast=30071979 (Accessed 25 Aug 2020). Drama series about Sam Tyler, a Manchester detective who suffers a near-fatal car crash and wakes up in what seems to be 1973. Unsure whether he’s in a coma, has really time-travelled or has just gone mad,
  • Midsomer Murders, The Sicilian Defence, 17:55 23/02/2020, ITV3, 125 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/02E76988?bcast=131330706 (Accessed 25 Aug 2020). Harriet Farmer wakes up after being in a coma since the night she tried to elope. Harriet’s boyfriend Finn Robson has been missing since the couple tried to run away together a year before.
  • Hospital focussed dramas e.g. New Amsterdam; House (some relevant episodes); Casualty (some relevant episodes), Scrubs.
  • Many detective dramas!
  • Many soap opera.
Activity 6 – Books

During the course we’ve discussed some books.  Here is a list of books  featuring “coma”,  are there some books  you would add to this list?

Books      

  • Allende, I (1994) “Paula”, Harper, London  (Originally written in Spanish, also available s Spanish audiobook, ori) (memoir)
  • Coupland, D (1998) Girlfriend in a coma, Harper Collins, Canada (Fiction)
  • Jian, Ma (2008) Beijing Coma : (originally written in Chinese) (Fiction)
  • Rentzenbrink, C (2015) The Last Act of Love, Pan McMillan, London (Memoir)
  • Dickinson, P  (1988) Eva (Fiction)

 

Activity 7 – News bulletins and documentaries

During the course we’ve discussed some news reporting of key moments in the development of law around patients in Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness. You can find examples of these news bulletins by searching on ‘Box of Broadcasts’

Examples of what you can access include:

  • Channel 4 News, 19:00 30/07/2018, Channel 4, 60 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/11C3B718?bcast=127195307 (Accessed 25 Aug 2020) (2.35 mins in)
  • Victoria Derbyshire, 09:00 23/09/2016, BBC2 England, 120 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/0D72AEDD?bcast=122552989 (Accessed 25 Aug 2020)
  • The Mind Reader: Unlocking My Voice, 23:05 13/11/2012, BBC1 Northern Ireland, 60 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/02DBE983?bcast=91713356 (Accessed 25 Aug 2020)
Activity 8 – News stories

 

 Can you think of some recent cases in the news? Here are some examples. Can you add to this? Including drawing reports from different countries – if so please add to the comments below

 Distraught sister accuses-Brits-of-murder-after-court-rules-to-switch-off-her-comatose-brothers-life-support (https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/distraught-sister-accuses-brits-of-murder-after-court-rules-to-switch-off-her-comatose-brothers-life-support-18918)

Kate Garraway discuses her husband’s condition (https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/kate-garraway-husband-derek-draper-coronavirus-coma-hospital-you-magazine-b404588.html

 

3 Comments

  1. niamhs
    niamhs on March 1, 2021 at 4:03 pm

    Hi,

    Should we use Harvard referencing?

    What would you recommend the word limits be for the analysis and reflections/conclusion sections of the report?

    Reply
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