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‘Radical blueprint for social change’? Media representations of New Labour's policies on public health
Author(s) -
Davidson Rosemary,
Hunt Kate,
Kitzinger Jenny
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9566.00357
Subject(s) - blueprint , white paper , politics , context (archaeology) , inequality , government (linguistics) , poverty , public health , white (mutation) , sociology , political science , health policy , coalition government , public administration , health care , law , medicine , history , mechanical engineering , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry , mathematics , nursing , archaeology , gene , engineering
Abstract For almost two decades prior to the election of the New Labour government in 1997, inequalities in health were largely absent from the political debate in Britain. New Labour sought to bring inequalities, and the role of poverty as a ‘root cause’ of ill‐health, back on to the public agenda. This paper analyses four key documents (Green and White Papers) laying out their proposals for public health. We explore the shifting emphasis on health inequalities between the four official documents, and between the documents and their associated press release. The paper also analyses how this translated into media coverage. It identifies common themes across the press coverage – such as criticisms about lack of targets – but also shows how coverage varied ( e.g. between UK ‘national’ and ‘Scottish’ press). Finally, the study highlights the crucial issue of political context and news timing, illustrating how the English White Paper was overshadowed by other health stories which formed the basis for attacks on the Labour government in general and the Health Minister in particular.