FOOD. Science. Technology. Quality

Food. SCIENCE. Technology. Quality

Food. Science. TECHNOLOGY. Quality

Food. Science. Technology. QUALITY

Authors

ANNA PRUSAK, MAGDALENA SZUMIŁO-KULCZYCKA, TADEUSZ SIKORA

Title

Genetically modified food (GM food) – analysis of publications in Gazeta Wyborcza in 1995 ÷ 2012

Abstract

The objective of this research study was to analyse the ways some selected GM food-related aspects were represented in Gazeta Wyborcza (GW), a newspaper deemed to be one of the most widely-read and opinion-forming nationwide dailies in Poland [1, 2, 3]. GM food is an attractive subject in media coverage as it is a multifaceted and controversial problem that is attributed to the lack of social consensus on the benefits and risks of using genetic modifications in the food production. The majority of consumers in Europe negatively approach genetic modifications [16]. However, the media reports have a major impact on public opinion, and, thus, it is important to get to know the form and way, in which one of the most widely-read newspapers in Poland provides information about GM foods. The content analysis was performed based on 227 articles on GM food, which were selected from the archive of GW and published in a period from 1995 to 2012. The results obtained were presented as a number of articles on and references to specific issues. The list of codes referring to those issues consists of the following categories: 1) date of publication; 2) nature of title (header); 3) health aspects; 4) environmental aspects; 5) economic aspects. Based on the analysis of results, it was found that legislative changes had a big impact on the publication frequency of the articles about GM food; in the GW newspaper, the messages predominated that discussed the effect of GM food on health and the majority of them were positive (the manufacture of medicines). Then again, the majority of negative messages referred to environmental aspects (effect of other species, transfer of genes).

Keywords

media, daily press, genetically modified food, risks, benefits

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