Research Proposal 2

With the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus, the media has been

- talk about how the media is covering the Ebola virus
- So the Ebola virus is again another experience in which the Ebola virus is the
bad guy and so are any of the people who could possibly transmit the virus to
us ie. The two students who werent let into the Texas school.
- Are we experiencing Ebola through the medias portrayal of it?
- More importantly, are we receiving all of the correct information regarding
Ebola?
- In the past, from the first patent medicines, to the smallpox and polio
vaccines, to the pill, patients were not given truthful information in regards
to the scientific findings, possible side effects, and results of trials. In each of
these cases, the media played a large role in the publics experience of the
disease and thus consequentially played a role in
- With Ebola, it is imperative that the public knows all of the facts. The
melodramatic rhetoric that is integrated into the media may induce bias and
lies into the dialogue. With the possibility of the release of an Ebola virus, the
American public has a right to know all of the facts.

Rough Draft

With the recent outbreak of Ebola in Africa and then the few isolated cases in
America, the media has been sure to cover every moment. There is a clear use of
melodramatic rhetoric integrated into this coverage making Ebola the bad guy
along with all those who could possibly bring it to America, the victim and good
guy. But is this melodramatic rhetoric a positive component of the coverage? Are
Americans experiencing Ebola through the medias portrayal of it? And if so, is this
good or bad?
History is not in favor of this melodramatic representation of disease, and the
consequential vaccines and drugs that come along with its spread. In the past, from
the first patent medicines, to the smallpox and polio vaccines, to the pill, patients
were not given truthful information in regards to the scientific findings, possible
side effects, and results of trials. In each of these cases, the media played a large role
in the publics experience of the disease and thus played a role in the skewing of
information regarding the disease. With syphilis, it was the propagation of the idea
that women were villainous fiends who gave helpless men syphilis. With the polio
vaccine, it was the proclamation that the vaccine was 100% effective, when in
reality the trials revealed a 68% effectiveness. With the birth control pill, it was the
withholding of information regarding possible side effects that led many women to
die of pulmonary embolisms and thrombosis at startlingly early ages. The list goes
on.
Without a doubt, the media plays a tremendous role in Americas experience
of disease and drugs. The media is the integrating factor between drugs and society.
In regards to the Ebola outbreak, the media is one of the most prominent sources of
information for the American public. As a result, it is imperative that the media is
completely truthful so as not to repeat many instances of history. The American
public deserves to know all of the information regarding Ebola and in the future all
of the information regarding the Ebola vaccine.