Comparing and Contrasting Views of Immunization

Comparing and Contrasting Views of Immunization

Introduction

Typically, people often hold different opinions and ideologies regarding similar issues or matters in life. Even for the news outlets, it is always challenging for journalists or reporters to use the same headlines, facts, political contexts, photos, and coverage when reporting on a similar subject. There will always be a slight difference in ideologies, captions, and so on. This paper primarily aims to compare and contrast three articles published by three leading media houses, including Aljazeera, Slate, and the New York Times on April 9 2019, July 25 2016, and May 6, 2006, respectively, on the theme of vaccines and immunization. The main points of comparison will be the facts, headlines, political/historical contexts, images used, the difference in coverage, and many others.

Discussion

To begin with, the main difference among the articles lies on the publishers and the dates of publications, as mentioned above. The New York Times, one of the leading and global newspapers based in New York City, published one of the articles. The other two were published by Aljazeera, A Qatari-based pay-per-view television network operated and owned by Aljazeera Media Network with its head offices in Doha, Qatar, and Slate Magazine, a top online media outlet that deals with current culture, politics, and other affairs. The dates of the publications are mentioned above. Despite all the articles focusing on the topic of immunization and online publishing, the photos used are different. Aljazeera (2019) has printed the image of Bill de Blassio, New York City Mayor, talking during a press conference, while the New York Times has published a page of the DSM guide used in the assessment and diagnosis of various mental diseases. On the other hand, the Slate Magazine has displayed the image of Doctor Amanda Porro preparing to inject a measles immunization drug to the four-year-old Sophie Barquin, who is assisted by her mother, Gabriella Barquin.

Another clear difference between the three articles lies in the headlines used. The Aljazeera’s headline is seemingly attention-grabbing, comprises of the essential keywords, and uses active voice. It reads, “New York City Orders Mandatory Measles Vaccines for Some” (Parker-Pope, 2008). This is a much better caption compared to the one run by the New York Times ( Psychiatry Handbook Linked to Drug Industry ), and the Slate Magazine ( The Vaccination Double Standard ). The last two are dull and less appealing. The headline of the New York Times seems even far much away from the idea of immunization as it talks about the relationship between an essential psychiatry handbook called the DSM and the drug sector. The other two are on point, but the first one is indubitably the best.

As mentioned above, the truth of the matter is that all three publications are unrelated to one another and tend to discuss genuinely different issues. For a fact, the article run by the New York Times, written by Tara Parker-Poke, is even an outlier, as it does not focus on the issue of immunization. It discusses matters to do with the task force, which comprised principally of the experts attached to the drug industry, who were selected to take part in the writing of the now complete psychiatric manual, which is labeled the DSM 5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). This handbook is today one of the most applied guides for assessment and diagnosis of mental diseases in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

The other two articles are genuinely glued to the issues surrounding the subject of immunization in the United States, such as the primary troublesome diseases that need vaccination such as measles, and the fundamental challenge of immunization such as presence of anti-vaxxers, which is a group of people for whatever reasons are opposed to the concept of immunization. The pieces run by Aljazeera relating to the new directive by the New York City’s boss, Bill de Blasio, that all residents receive mandatory measles immunization ostensibly agrees with the editorial run by Slate Magazine on the double standards of vaccinations in the community.

For one, both editions agree that immunization is very fundamental to the achievement of comprehensive care within the population. This implies that having individual sections of the people, including children, left out poses a higher risk to the wellbeing of the entire community. Therefore, based on Aljazeera news, it is critical to contain disease outbreaks like measles by making immunization compulsory to all neighborhoods, particularly extremely risky districts like the Orthodox Jewish area in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg borough, which reported approximately 285 cases in 2017. The article on Slate Magazine’s website edited by Rebekah Diamond and Phoebe Day Danziger also echoes these sentiments by calling for the creation of policies that render immunization of children compulsory (Danziger & Diamond, 2016).

One of the most notable differences between the two pieces lies in the reasons why some parents refuse to immunize their children. For Aljazeera, the primary issue lies with the non-proven lies propelled by a group of anti-vaxxers. These individuals are responsible for spreading risky misinformation that is baseless. Another reason is that some parents are opposed to the immunization programs because of a misplaced notion that the drugs can cause autism. All these have not been proven scientifically. Slate Magazine holds a different perspective as to why immunization is facing rejection from specific community members. Some of these reasons stem from misinformation and poverty. Others occur due to negligence from parents. However, all the articles conclude that vaccination of children and other community members, who have never received the dose, should be made compulsory.

Conclusion

From the discussion above, it is evident that irrespective of how similar an issue or theme might be, reporting always takes different dimensions. Reporters, newsrooms, or pundits will usually have a diverse opinion or will represent and depict ideas in a different way. The most important observations are that the articles run by Aljazeera and the Slate Magazine are glued to the main topic of immunization, presenting a similar opinion using different approaches, including images. However, the New York Times seems to discuss a concept very different. There is no evidence of editorializing.

References

Parker-Pope, T. (2008 May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to the drug industry. The New York Times, https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/psychiatry-handbook-linked-to-drug-industry/?_r=0

Aljazeera. Com. (2019 April 9). New York City orders mandatory measles vaccines for some. Aljazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/york-city-orders-mandatory-measles-vaccines-190409162611401.html

Danziger, P. D., & Diamond, R. (2016 July 25). The double vaccination standard. Slate Magazine, https://slate.com/technology/2016/07/vaccination-should-be-mandatory-but-it-isnt.html