Synopses & Reviews
Applying multimodal textual analysis to the languages and images of online communication forms, Kay Richardson shows, from an applied linguistic perspective, how the Internet is being used for global, interactive communication about public health risks. Detailed case studies of the possible risks posed by SARS, by mobile phones and by the vaccination of babies against childhood diseases are situated within the context of research on computer-mediated communication, as well as within the broader social context of globalization and discourses of risk and trust.
Synopsis
Applying multimodal textual analysis to the languages and images of online communication forms, Kay Richardson shows, from an applied linguistic perspective, how the Internet is being used for global, interactive communication about public health risks. Detailed case studies of the possible risks posed by SARS, by mobile phones and by the vaccination of babies against childhood diseases are situated within the context of research on computer-mediated communication, as well as within the broader social context of globalization and discourses of risk and trust.
About the Author
Kay Richardson is Senior Lecturer in the School of Politics and Communication Studies at the University of Liverpool,UK. Her other books include Nuclear Reactions: A Study in Public Issue Television (co-authored with Natalie Fenton), Researching
Table of Contents
Introduction * Computer-mediated Communication and Language * Public Discourses of Risk, Health and Science * Mobile Phones and Brain Cancer * SARS * MMR and Autism * Constructions of Risk: Change, Conflict and Trust * The Internet and the Public Interest * Notes * References * Appendix: List of Sampled Newsgroups * Index