Bioethics at the intersection of politics, society, and healthcare: the significance of media debate analyses.
Publisher DOI
PubMed ID
40615835
Abstract
Since the "empirical turn" in bioethics, empirical inquiries have gained momentum in bioethical research. However, the relevance of the systematic analysis of media debates for empirical bioethics and the corresponding methodological requirements have so far been rather underexplored. Thus, the existing approaches are methodologically heterogeneous and their significance for bioethical inquiries has not been systematically discussed. In this paper, we provide a critical reflection on the significance of media debate analyses for bioethics, which lies in the possibility of investigating the unique intersection of bioethics, politics, society, and healthcare. Through a rapid scoping review, we outline the characteristics of published media debate analyses and show the heterogeneity of the field in terms of methodologies, academic disciplines, and topics covered. We identify four levels on which these publications contribute to bioethics research: (1) by providing a descriptive empirical context; (2) by describing ethical aspects of a health topic; (3) by identifying and evaluating moral problems; and (4) by providing an ethical evaluation of media debates. Based on this, we outline basic methodological requirements, address the limitations of media debate analyses for bioethics, and indicate recent and future advancements in the field.
Date Issued
2025-07-04
Publication Type
Article
Subject(s)
Subjects
Biomedical ethics
•
Empirical bioethics
•
Ethical analysis
•
Media discourse
•
Methodology
•
Public debate
Language(s)
en
Author(s)
Ellerich-Groppe, Niklas |
Journal
BMC Medical Ethics
Publisher
BioMed Central
ISSN
1472-6939
1472-6939
Access(Rights)
open.access