The Roles of the Media in the Dissemination of Health Information

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 441

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Journalism and Mass Comm, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA
Interests: strategic health communication; health campaign; public’s advocacy on health issues; new media in health communication; cultural in health invervention

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Guest Editor
Department of Information Design and Corporate Communication, Bentley University, Waltham, MA 02452, USA
Interests: crisis communication and management; corporate social advocacy; organization-public relationships

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Guest Editor
Department of Journalism and Mass Comm, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA
Interests: health communication; mental health and social support

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The media plays a vital role in disseminating health information, shaping public understanding, and influencing behavior. It educates the public on health risks, preventive measures, and emerging issues like disease outbreaks, while framing perceptions of health behaviors, such as smoking or healthy eating. The media also provides a platform for experts to share evidence-based guidance during health crises or controversies. Social media amplifies this role by enabling real-time communication and offering spaces for individuals to connect, share experiences, and find support. However, challenges such as misinformation threaten public health efforts.

This Special Issue explores the media’s role in health communication, focusing on its influence on public understanding and behavior. Key goals include analyzing the media’s effectiveness in health crisis communication, addressing misinformation, promoting media literacy, and investigating its impact on health equity and access. This Special Issue will also explore ethical challenges in health media, highlight innovations like AI and health apps, and encourage interdisciplinary perspectives on the media’s role in shaping health outcomes. Furthermore, it will address how the media drives health advocacy, promotes behavioral changes, and fosters collaboration to create more effective health communication strategies.

Dr. Xueying Zhang
Dr. Ziyuan Zhou
Dr. Laura Marshall
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • health literary
  • health crisis
  • misinformation
  • health equity
  • ethics in health media
  • new media technology in health communication
  • media and public’s advocacy of health
  • health behavior change

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