Metaphors in the Rhetoric of Pandemic Flu: Electronic Media Coverage of H1N1 and Swine Flu

Abstract

Drawing on pandemic flu metaphor research and building on previous metaphor theory, this article uses rhetorical analysis to examine and move toward understanding the metaphors surrounding H1N1 and swine flu. To understand these metaphors, I created two Google Alerts for the terms “H1N1” and “swine flu” and collected data using these Google Alerts from November 10, 2009 to December 10, 2009. I then examined the headlines and content found in the news articles, blogs, and websites from the Google Alerts, and grouped the metaphors used in these headlines and content thematically. These themes work toward providing a rhetoric of pandemic flu, a rhetoric that might assist health care recipients in being more aware of how metaphors used in electronic media create meaning for health concerns.