[Does the written press give a fair account of a complex medical question: «the Vincent Lambert case»?]

Abstract

Does the written press give a fair account of a complex medical question: "The Vincent Lambert Case"? We have studid press articles referring to Mr. Vincent Lambert's situation from 2013 to 2017. Analysis using a reading grid (including 7 questions) of press articles from four French daily newspapers (Libération, Le Monde, Le Figaro and La Croix) and a specialized medical news site (Agence de presse médicale) so that they can build their own opinion. 341 articles were analyzed (61 articles from Libération, 65 articles from Le Monde, 86 articles from Le Figaro, 82 articles from La Croix, 47 articles from the APM), writing a chronology of the main facts of the patient's history from 2013 to 2017 in order to have benchmarks to estimate the accuracy of the information reported in the various articles. Articles are rarely fully explicit. Inadequate expressions ("passive euthanasia", "end-of-life procedure") are used in the majority of newspapers. Some articles present the facts in a partisan way and contribute to mask the complexity of the patient's situation. Court decisions are often shortened and therefore simplified, which does not help the reader to understand the situation in an informed way. Reflective benchmarks are sometimes found in the various newspapers from 2013 to 2016. From 2016 onwards, we notice that the articles are shorter and that they no longer give any reference points for reflection. The daily written press in its current format does not seem to be able to help the general public to obtain accurate information on complex issues involving broad areas of reflection. The difficulty of the journalist's work in addressing this type of questioning comes partly from the constraints of brevity that are often imposed on them on the one hand and from the constant evolution of the information itself on the other.

• Authors: Coralie Hugny, Vincent Sanchez, Régis Aubry
• Journal: La Revue du praticien (Rev Prat) Vol. 70 Issue 5 Pg. 485-491 (May 2020) ISSN: 2101-017X [Electronic] France
• Vernacular Title: La presse écrite rend-elle compte d’une façon juste d’une question médicale complexe : « le cas Vincent Lambert » ?
• PMID: 33058632 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Euthanasia, Passive (legislation & jurisprudence)
• Humans
• Journalism, Medical