A trail leading home. Analysing the evolution of Mpox risk narratives and targets of blame in UK media

Abstract

This research is interested in the ways the media ‘holds together’ science, history, and culture in the coverage of a new and frightening disease outbreak. Building on previous studies, which have shown that meanings given to an epidemic take shape within pre-existing geographies of hope and blame, and drawing upon Douglas’ understanding of risk and blame, this article explores the relation between perceived epidemic risk, outbreak narratives and accusation. It analyses how different outbreak risk narratives evolved in UK media articles (n = 227) during the first three months of the 2022 Mpox outbreak. Findings highlight a shifting accusatory dynamic in narrative framings over time. They illustrate that as the epidemic risk was framed as increasing, the most prominent narratives shift from the accusation of distant racialised others to an increasingly ‘proximal blame’ tendency, which initially targets marginalised local groups, followed by societal structures and institutions. We argue that this general trend of meaning-making and blame during epidemics is historically recurring and, considering this chronic reaction to outbreak risk, we conclude by suggesting potential avenues of thought for communication strategies.

Keywords:

• Mpox
• figures of blame
• accusation
• outbreak risk narrative
• media analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. However, Mpox is more contagious than HIV/AIDS, in that it can also spread from person-to-person through direct contact with the rash, scabs, or body fluids, and via respiratory secretions during prolonged contact (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022b).

2. At the time of data collection, the WHO hadn’t yet renamed the disease ‘Mpox’.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.