Media and the staging of policy controversy: obesity and the UK sugar tax

ABSTRACT

In response to the perceived risk to health posed by obesity, governments in over 40 countries have introduced sugar taxes (also known as soda taxes), often as part of wider plans to improve national food environments. In this study we apply critical discourse analysis (CDA) to analyze 29 television news interviews addressing the sugar tax, in order to expose how and why media companies and the experts involved stage and maintain controversy. Our analysis provides evidence of a broad range of devices, ranging from the macro choice of interviewees and the role of the interviewer to their micro level rhetorical choices. They also include experts molding the same evidence to support their position and interviewers posing questions they know will result in a blunt contradiction. While individually each device may appear relatively inconsequential, their repeated use generates possibilities for self-perpetuating intertextuality and provides a sense of intractability that contributes to public disengagement with the issue. The value of studies such as this is to elucidate the use, ubiquity and effects of these devices that may otherwise go unnoticed or unquestioned.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical discourse analysis
• television news interview
• infotainment
• intertextuality
• sugar tax
• obesity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Terry O’Sullivan

Dr Terry O’Sullivan: Terry’s subject-based research focuses on the use of marketing in the arts and health for positive social change. Research methods employed include expert interviews, case studies and discourse analysis. Terry recently retired from The Open University after over 25 years service.

Elizabeth Daniel

Professor Elizabeth Daniel: Elizabeth is professor of information management in the department of strategy and marketing at the open university business school, UK. Her research interests include information systems, marketing and entrepreneurship. Research methods employed include both qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis of large scale datasets.

Fiona Harris

Dr Fiona Harris: Fiona’s current research interests concern ethical marketing practice and the application of marketing principles and techniques to improve health and social wellbeing. Her research also draws on her background in applied psychology and doctoral research on brand management.