Key aspects of UK newspaper reporting of swine flu (SF) by quarter of publication
| Coverage in UK newspapers | Overall | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | p Value | |||||
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | ||
| N articles (row %) | 2374 | 100 | 634 | 26.7 | 1082 | 45.6 | 509 | 21.4 | 149 | 6.3 | |
| Genre of newspaper | |||||||||||
| Serious | 646 | 27.2 | 251 | 39.6 | 274 | 25.3 | 96 | 18.9 | 25 | 16.8 | |
| Middle market | 569 | 24.0 | 122 | 19.2 | 286 | 26.4 | 116 | 22.8 | 45 | 30.2 | |
| Tabloid | 1159 | 48.8 | 261 | 41.2 | 522 | 48.2 | 297 | 58.3 | 79 | 53.0 | p<0.0001 |
| Item on front page | 103 | 4.7 | 47 | 7.9 | 45 | 4.6 | 10 | 2.1 | 1 | 0.8 | |
| Rating of headline | |||||||||||
| Alarmist | 317 | 13.4 | 80 | 12.6 | 143 | 13.2 | 69 | 13.6 | 25 | 16.7 | |
| Reassuring | 95 | 4.0 | 28 | 4.4 | 26 | 2.4 | 27 | 5.3 | 14 | 9.3 | |
| Neither | 1962 | 82.6 | 525 | 82.9 | 319 | 84.4 | 413 | 81.1 | 111 | 74.0 | p=0.001 |
| Key issues reported | |||||||||||
| Epidemiology of SF | |||||||||||
| No. UK deaths | 529 | 22.3 | 5 | 0.8 | 285 | 26.3 | 180 | 35.4 | 59 | 39.3 | p<0.0001 |
| No. UK cases | 857 | 36.1 | 256 | 40.4 | 412 | 38.1 | 155 | 30.5 | 34 | 22.7 | p<0.0001 |
| Predicted epidemic in UK | 222 | 9.4 | 25 | 3.9 | 127 | 11.7 | 64 | 12.6 | 6 | 4.0 | p<0.0001 |
| No. deaths worldwide | 299 | 12.6 | 177 | 28.0 | 96 | 8.9 | 15 | 2.9 | 11 | 7.3 | p<0.0001 |
| No. cases worldwide | 258 | 10.9 | 162 | 25.6 | 87 | 8.0 | 5 | 1.0 | 4 | 2.7 | p=0.03 |
| Comparison with past flu outbreaks | 212 | 8.9 | 117 | 18.5 | 78 | 7.2 | 8 | 1.6 | 9 | 6.0 | p<0.0001 |
| SF not as bad as predicted | 59 | 2.5 | 6 | 0.9 | 6 | 0.6 | 19 | 3.7 | 28 | 18.7 | p<0.0001 |
| Groups at higher risk | |||||||||||
| Pregnant women | 227 | 9.6 | 1 | 0.2 | 116 | 10.7 | 93 | 18.3 | 17 | 11.3 | p<0.0001 |
| People with health problems | 443 | 18.7 | 16 | 2.5 | 225 | 20.8 | 163 | 32.0 | 39 | 26.0 | p<0.0001 |
| Children | 189 | 8.0 | 14 | 2.2 | 110 | 10.2 | 45 | 8.8 | 20 | 13.3 | p<0.0001 |
| Nature of disease | |||||||||||
| Symptoms usually mild | 315 | 13.3 | 66 | 10.4 | 187 | 17.3 | 49 | 9.6 | 13 | 8.7 | p<0.0001 |
| Can cause death | 555 | 23.4 | 143 | 22.6 | 265 | 24.5 | 120 | 23.6 | 27 | 18.0 | p=0.33 |
| Tamiflu helps symptoms | 257 | 10.8 | 106 | 16.7 | 130 | 12.0 | 19 | 3.7 | 2 | 1.3 | p<0.0001 |
| Infection control | |||||||||||
| Modes of transmission | 254 | 10.7 | 133 | 21.0 | 73 | 6.7 | 40 | 7.9 | 8 | 5.3 | p<0.0001 |
| School closures | 275 | 11.6 | 144 | 22.7 | 111 | 10.3 | 20 | 3.9 | 0 | p<0.0001 | |
| Travel restrictions | 124 | 5.2 | 63 | 10.0 | 57 | 5.3 | 3 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.7 | p<0.0001 |
| Facial masks | 160 | 6.7 | 118 | 18.6 | 36 | 3.3 | 5 | 1.0 | 1 | 0.7 | p<0.0001 |
| Personal hygiene | 244 | 10.3 | 72 | 11.4 | 131 | 12.1 | 39 | 7.7 | 2 | 1.3 | p<0.0001 |
| Vaccine development | 199 | 8.4 | 60 | 9.5 | 95 | 8.8 | 43 | 8.4 | 1 | 0.7 | p=0.005 |
| Vaccine safety | 27 | 1.1 | 0 | 7 | 0.6 | 14 | 2.8 | 6 | 4.0 | p<0.0001 | |
| Other | |||||||||||
| Blames government | 28 | 1.2 | 8 | 1.3 | 8 | 0.7 | 3 | 0.6 | 9 | 6.0 | p<0.0001 |
| Blames public health /academics for over-hyping | 25 | 1.1 | 8 | 1.3 | 4 | 0.4 | 5 | 1.0 | 8 | 5.3 | p<0.0001 |
Note that all percentages are column % except in first row of table.
Q1: 1 March 2009 to 31 May 2009.
Q2: 1 June 2009 to 31 August 2009.
Q3: 1 September 2009 to 30 November 2009.
Q4: 1 December 2009 to 28 February 2010.