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Tacit Understandings of Health Literacy

Interview and Survey Research With Health Journalists

Missouri School of Journalism, hinnanta{at}missouri.edu

María E. Len-Ríos

Missouri School of Journalism

This research offers both qualitative and quantitative data about how health journalists approach health literacy practically and conceptually. Using interviews with 20 writers and editors for magazines and newspapers coupled with a national survey ( N = 396), this analysis uncovers journalistic techniques and tacit theories for making information understandable. The journalists evince a basic understanding of how health literacy can be enhanced through certain story elements (such as nontechnical word use), but they also maintain false ideas about appropriate comprehension aides (such as statistics). Findings show that journalists struggle to maintain scientific credibility while accommodating different audience literacy levels. Journalists’ definitions of health literacy strategically carve out a place for their work as translators.

Key Words: health journalism • medical news • scientific credibility • health literacy • public understanding of science • newspaper • magazine

This version was published on September 1, 2009

Science Communication, Vol. 31, No. 1, 84-115 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1075547009335345


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