Gabriela Capurro
Biographic Data
| ID | 246725 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gabriela Capurro |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gabriela |
| FAMILY NAME | Capurro |
| SIGNATURE | CAPURRO G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Carleton University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2211-6229 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 24 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Learning from the pandemic: Building capacity for risk communication in the Canadian federal health portfolio
The training program was an innovative and successful initiative to improve knowledge of current priority topics and best practices in risk communication. It illustrated the benefits of continued professional learning, the importance of university-public service partnerships, and how capacity building requires ongoing resource commitments and engaged support from senior management. The program, along with other risk communication training that is…
The spokesperson matters: Evaluating the crisis communication styles of primary spokespersons when presenting Covid-19 modeling data across three jurisdictions in Canada
Risk prevention measures are more likely to be accepted if people trust risk managers and their ability to handle the crisis, which often depends on who communicates with the public. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some Canadian officials became the main spokespersons of pandemic response in their jurisdiction, speaking almost daily to the public. We evaluated how the primary official for each jurisdiction chose to communicate about epidemiological…
None of it was especially easy”: Improving Covid-19 vaccine equity for people with disabilities
Meaningful engagement with people living with disabilities in immunization program planning would help ensure that people with disabilities, who already face significant challenges due to COVID-19, are offered the same protections as the rest of the population. These recommendations could be easily transferred to the administration of other large-scale immunization campaigns (e.g., influenza vaccines)
Communicating scientific uncertainty in a rapidly evolving situation: A framing analysis of Canadian coverage in early days of Covid-19
Managing scientific uncertainty in evolving science-policy situations requires timely and clear communication. Public health officials and political leaders need to provide clear and consistent messages and access to data regarding infection prevention guidelines. Public health officials should quickly engage in communication course corrections if original messages are missing the intended mark, and clearly explain the shift. Finally, public heal…
Drawing from the ‘bank of credibility’: Perspectives of health officials and the public on media handling of the H1N1 pandemic
The H1N1 global pandemic of 2009–10 was moderate in its severity, which led many members of the public to denounce news organizations for ‘hyping’ the threat posed by the virus. This outcome was troubling as it portended a potentially cynical public audience in the event of a future emerging infectious disease. As we face a new Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) with COVID-19, public trust in public health information and me…
Witnessing the Ward: On the Emotional Labor of Doing Hospital Ethnography
This paper examines the emotional labor performed by researchers when undertaking ethnographic research in hospitals. Drawing on emotion work theory to situate emotions at the center of qualitative and interdisciplinary research, I provide a methodological reflection based on a 20-week long ethnography at a Canadian pediatric hospital I conducted in the context of a research project examining risk communication of antimicrobial resistance. I argu…
Superbugs” in the Risk Society: Assessing the Reflexive Function of North American Newspaper Coverage of Antimicrobial Resistance
This article examines how antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is covered in four elite North American newspapers and whether the dailies act as sites of reflexive modernization. I draw on risk society theory to situate AMR as a modern risk and news media as key spaces for reflexivity. Through a qualitative content analysis of 89 news stories on AMR, this study shows that this risk is communicated through inaccurate definitions and oversimplified accou…
Superbugs' and the 'Dirty Hospital: The Social Co-Production of Public Health Risks
This dissertation examines the construction of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a public health risk. Its focus is on how AMR is co-produced among a network of medical professionals, scientists and science journalists. The research advances three main arguments: first, narratives and definitions of health risk are not absolute or fixed, but constituted in the discourses and practices of global, national and local actors; second, the production o…
Measles, Mickey, and the Media: Anti-Vaxxers and Health Risk Narratives during the 2015 Disneyland Outbreak
Background Outbreaks of disease are common fodder for political debate and public discourse. In the past decade alone, health officials have faced a steady stream of serious public health threats, from H1N1 to Ebola and Zika, as well as large outbreaks of measles and other highly contagious illnesses. These incidents command intense media attention and focus public conversation around questions of risk and responsibility. Analysis This article ex…
Measles, Moral Regulation and the Social Construction of Risk: Media Narratives of 'Anti-Vaxxers' and the 2015 Disneyland Outbreak
This paper examines media coverage of the 2014-15 measles outbreak that began at Disneyland and spread throughout the United States and into Canada and Mexico. Specifically, it focuses on the construction of 'anti-vaxxers' as a central character in the outbreak's unfolding narrative who came to represent a threat to public health and moral order. Although parents who hold strong anti-vaccine views are small in number, media representations of 'an…
The Marvelous Clouds: Toward a philosophy of elemental media
In The Marvelous Clouds: Toward a Philosophy of Elemental Media, John D. Peters embarks on an exploration of the natural world to argue for a broad definition of media that includes natural environments. Peters asserts that meaning is inherent to nature, it can be found in the sea and in the sky, in all the environments that mediate our experience of the world. In that sense, the author advances the idea that media studies should take these envir…
Responsible innovation: An approach for extracting public values concerning advanced biofuels
The objective of our study was to test an approach for extracting public values concerning a virtually unknown and scientifically complex topic, namely advanced lignocellulosic biofuels, in order to foster responsible innovation of this novel technology in Canada as early on in the policy-making process as possible. As advanced lignocellulosic biofuels are currently an emerging form of liquid fuel for transport, it may be beneficial to open the d…
The Role of Media References During Public Deliberation Sessions
One intrinsic component of public engagement events on scientific issues that has been ignored is the role of media representations as informational inputs. This is despite inferences that media representations may support learning, reflection, misinformation, or polarization during an event. In this article, we examined the role of media references during a public deliberation on advanced biofuels, revealing how participants used them for variou…
Grasping scientific news: The use of science journalism models to clarify the impacts of alternative forms of production
By developing model-based news articles and presenting them to audience focus groups, this research gauges reader response to “test stories” based on four models of science journalism: science literacy, contextual, lay-expertise, and public participation. This approach allows investigation of how to tie journalism theory to practice to audience reception, and back again. The results show how journalists and readers differently engage with various…
None of it was especially easy”: Improving Covid-19 vaccine equity for people with disabilities
Meaningful engagement with people living with disabilities in immunization program planning would help ensure that people with disabilities, who already face significant challenges due to COVID-19, are offered the same protections as the rest of the population. These recommendations could be easily transferred to the administration of other large-scale immunization campaigns (e.g., influenza vaccines)
Witnessing the Ward: On the Emotional Labor of Doing Hospital Ethnography
This paper examines the emotional labor performed by researchers when undertaking ethnographic research in hospitals. Drawing on emotion work theory to situate emotions at the center of qualitative and interdisciplinary research, I provide a methodological reflection based on a 20-week long ethnography at a Canadian pediatric hospital I conducted in the context of a research project examining risk communication of antimicrobial resistance. I argu…
Measles, Moral Regulation and the Social Construction of Risk: Media Narratives of 'Anti-Vaxxers' and the 2015 Disneyland Outbreak
This paper examines media coverage of the 2014-15 measles outbreak that began at Disneyland and spread throughout the United States and into Canada and Mexico. Specifically, it focuses on the construction of 'anti-vaxxers' as a central character in the outbreak's unfolding narrative who came to represent a threat to public health and moral order. Although parents who hold strong anti-vaccine views are small in number, media representations of 'an…
Grasping scientific news: The use of science journalism models to clarify the impacts of alternative forms of production
By developing model-based news articles and presenting them to audience focus groups, this research gauges reader response to “test stories” based on four models of science journalism: science literacy, contextual, lay-expertise, and public participation. This approach allows investigation of how to tie journalism theory to practice to audience reception, and back again. The results show how journalists and readers differently engage with various…
Drawing from the ‘bank of credibility’: Perspectives of health officials and the public on media handling of the H1N1 pandemic
The H1N1 global pandemic of 2009–10 was moderate in its severity, which led many members of the public to denounce news organizations for ‘hyping’ the threat posed by the virus. This outcome was troubling as it portended a potentially cynical public audience in the event of a future emerging infectious disease. As we face a new Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) with COVID-19, public trust in public health information and me…
The Role of Media References During Public Deliberation Sessions
One intrinsic component of public engagement events on scientific issues that has been ignored is the role of media representations as informational inputs. This is despite inferences that media representations may support learning, reflection, misinformation, or polarization during an event. In this article, we examined the role of media references during a public deliberation on advanced biofuels, revealing how participants used them for variou…
Grasping scientific news: The use of science journalism models to clarify the impacts of alternative forms of production
By developing model-based news articles and presenting them to audience focus groups, this research gauges reader response to “test stories” based on four models of science journalism: science literacy, contextual, lay-expertise, and public participation. This approach allows investigation of how to tie journalism theory to practice to audience reception, and back again. The results show how journalists and readers differently engage with various…
Responsible innovation: An approach for extracting public values concerning advanced biofuels
The objective of our study was to test an approach for extracting public values concerning a virtually unknown and scientifically complex topic, namely advanced lignocellulosic biofuels, in order to foster responsible innovation of this novel technology in Canada as early on in the policy-making process as possible. As advanced lignocellulosic biofuels are currently an emerging form of liquid fuel for transport, it may be beneficial to open the d…
The Role of Media References During Public Deliberation Sessions
One intrinsic component of public engagement events on scientific issues that has been ignored is the role of media representations as informational inputs. This is despite inferences that media representations may support learning, reflection, misinformation, or polarization during an event. In this article, we examined the role of media references during a public deliberation on advanced biofuels, revealing how participants used them for variou…
The Marvelous Clouds: Toward a philosophy of elemental media
In The Marvelous Clouds: Toward a Philosophy of Elemental Media, John D. Peters embarks on an exploration of the natural world to argue for a broad definition of media that includes natural environments. Peters asserts that meaning is inherent to nature, it can be found in the sea and in the sky, in all the environments that mediate our experience of the world. In that sense, the author advances the idea that media studies should take these envir…
Measles, Moral Regulation and the Social Construction of Risk: Media Narratives of 'Anti-Vaxxers' and the 2015 Disneyland Outbreak
This paper examines media coverage of the 2014-15 measles outbreak that began at Disneyland and spread throughout the United States and into Canada and Mexico. Specifically, it focuses on the construction of 'anti-vaxxers' as a central character in the outbreak's unfolding narrative who came to represent a threat to public health and moral order. Although parents who hold strong anti-vaccine views are small in number, media representations of 'an…
Measles, Mickey, and the Media: Anti-Vaxxers and Health Risk Narratives during the 2015 Disneyland Outbreak
Background Outbreaks of disease are common fodder for political debate and public discourse. In the past decade alone, health officials have faced a steady stream of serious public health threats, from H1N1 to Ebola and Zika, as well as large outbreaks of measles and other highly contagious illnesses. These incidents command intense media attention and focus public conversation around questions of risk and responsibility. Analysis This article ex…
Superbugs” in the Risk Society: Assessing the Reflexive Function of North American Newspaper Coverage of Antimicrobial Resistance
This article examines how antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is covered in four elite North American newspapers and whether the dailies act as sites of reflexive modernization. I draw on risk society theory to situate AMR as a modern risk and news media as key spaces for reflexivity. Through a qualitative content analysis of 89 news stories on AMR, this study shows that this risk is communicated through inaccurate definitions and oversimplified accou…
Superbugs' and the 'Dirty Hospital: The Social Co-Production of Public Health Risks
This dissertation examines the construction of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a public health risk. Its focus is on how AMR is co-produced among a network of medical professionals, scientists and science journalists. The research advances three main arguments: first, narratives and definitions of health risk are not absolute or fixed, but constituted in the discourses and practices of global, national and local actors; second, the production o…
Communicating scientific uncertainty in a rapidly evolving situation: A framing analysis of Canadian coverage in early days of Covid-19
Managing scientific uncertainty in evolving science-policy situations requires timely and clear communication. Public health officials and political leaders need to provide clear and consistent messages and access to data regarding infection prevention guidelines. Public health officials should quickly engage in communication course corrections if original messages are missing the intended mark, and clearly explain the shift. Finally, public heal…
Drawing from the ‘bank of credibility’: Perspectives of health officials and the public on media handling of the H1N1 pandemic
The H1N1 global pandemic of 2009–10 was moderate in its severity, which led many members of the public to denounce news organizations for ‘hyping’ the threat posed by the virus. This outcome was troubling as it portended a potentially cynical public audience in the event of a future emerging infectious disease. As we face a new Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) with COVID-19, public trust in public health information and me…
Witnessing the Ward: On the Emotional Labor of Doing Hospital Ethnography
This paper examines the emotional labor performed by researchers when undertaking ethnographic research in hospitals. Drawing on emotion work theory to situate emotions at the center of qualitative and interdisciplinary research, I provide a methodological reflection based on a 20-week long ethnography at a Canadian pediatric hospital I conducted in the context of a research project examining risk communication of antimicrobial resistance. I argu…
The spokesperson matters: Evaluating the crisis communication styles of primary spokespersons when presenting Covid-19 modeling data across three jurisdictions in Canada
Risk prevention measures are more likely to be accepted if people trust risk managers and their ability to handle the crisis, which often depends on who communicates with the public. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some Canadian officials became the main spokespersons of pandemic response in their jurisdiction, speaking almost daily to the public. We evaluated how the primary official for each jurisdiction chose to communicate about epidemiological…
None of it was especially easy”: Improving Covid-19 vaccine equity for people with disabilities
Meaningful engagement with people living with disabilities in immunization program planning would help ensure that people with disabilities, who already face significant challenges due to COVID-19, are offered the same protections as the rest of the population. These recommendations could be easily transferred to the administration of other large-scale immunization campaigns (e.g., influenza vaccines)
Learning from the pandemic: Building capacity for risk communication in the Canadian federal health portfolio
The training program was an innovative and successful initiative to improve knowledge of current priority topics and best practices in risk communication. It illustrated the benefits of continued professional learning, the importance of university-public service partnerships, and how capacity building requires ongoing resource commitments and engaged support from senior management. The program, along with other risk communication training that is…
Political science (12 works) · Public relations (10 works) · Medicine (7 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Media studies (5 works) · Public health (5 works) · Climate Change Communication and Perception (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Media Studies and Communication (4 works)