The reproduction of “medical gaze”： the construction of ethical principles in public health communication
10.12026/j.issn.1001-8565.2025.10.17
- VernacularTitle:“医学凝视”的复现：大众健康传播中的伦理原则建构
- Author:
Leixiao ZENG
1
Author Information
1. School of Journalism and Communication， Renmin University of China， Beijing 100872， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
health communication;
ethics;
medical gaze;
disease metaphor;
mediatization
- From:
Chinese Medical Ethics
2025;38(10):1351-1358
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Policy incentives and the popularization of social media have enabled an increasing number of medical professionals to join the workforce of public health communication. Their rich professional knowledge has improved the quality of communication and brought multifaceted positive impacts on health communication. However， it has also raised ethical issues in health communication， namely “medical gaze.” The phenomenon of “medical gaze” can be summarized as the moralization of etiology， the spectacularization of lesions， and the trivialization of medical cases. By reviewing and sorting out biomedical ethics and professional ethics in journalism and communication， this paper constructed a framework of ethical principles for public health communication from the perspective of common morality and principal paradigm， including the principles of truth and accuracy， restraint， dialogue and benefit， respect for autonomy， and emphasis on the humanities and social sciences. Meanwhile， this paper also explored pathways to implement ethics in practice from various aspects， such as compiling guidelines， deepening training systems， and establishing content review processes and professional cooperation. Although focusing on the ethical lapses of medical professionals in health communication， this paper did not aim to deny the significant value of their participation in health communication， nor did it regard them as typical or primary causes of ethical lapses in health communication. Given their professionalism and foundation in professional ethics， the ethical issues they raised were neither the most serious nor the most frequent. This paper chose this perspective， aiming to promote dialogue between biomedical ethics and media ethics and provide more possibilities for standardizing the health communication space.
