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■Media hypes are a well known phenomenon. They occur on a regular basis and attract much media attention, but there is very little knowledge about them. This article supplements Vasterman's analysis of the phenomenon and presents new empirical evidence. Through a case study of five Danish media hypes occurring between 2000 and 2005, the article shows that not every event has the potential to trigger a media hype: it must, of course, satisfy the general news values, but should also contain some violation of norms, be suitable for public debate and, finally, it must be possible for the media to cover the event from a variety of perspectives. Concerning the structure and dynamics of the media hype, the article concludes that media hypes begin with a trigger event, they last approximately three weeks and come in several, usually three, waves of decreasing intensity. ■

Medienhypes sind ein bekanntes Phänomen. Sie treten mit einiger Regelmäßigkeit auf und ziehen in großem Maße Medienbeachtung auf sich; gleichzeitig ist aber sehr wenig über sie bekannt. Der Beitrag ergänzt Vastermans Analyse des Phänomen und präsentiert neue empirische Hinweise. Mit Hilfe einer Fallstudie zu fünf dänischen Medienhypes zwischen 2000 und 2005 wird gezeigt, dass nicht jedes Ereignis das Potential hat, einen Medienhype auszulösen: es muss in jedem Fall den allgemeinen Nachrichtenwert befriedigen, es sollte darüber hinaus aber einige Normverletzungen enthalten, sich für eine öffentliche Debatte eignen und letztlich sollte es für die Medien möglich sein, über das Ereignis aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven zu berichten. In Bezug auf die Struktur und Dynamik von Medienhypes kommt der Beitrag zu dem Schluss, dass Medienhypes mit einem auslösenden Ereignis beginnen, im allgemeinen etwa drei Wochen andauern und in mehreren, üblicherweise drei aufeinanderfolgenden Wellen abnehmender Intensität ablaufen. (UNübers.) (UN)

Media hypes on social problems occur on a regular basis and they seem to generate a lot of political activity. This article asks the question whether media hypes have any influence on public policies central issue of the hype—and if any, what kind of influence? Five media hypes on the same subject area (the care for and spending on the elderly) are analyzed.Their immediate influence on policy making is traced, and although the media often is assumed to exercise real political power through media hypes, no—or only few—traces of such direct political influence is found. Instead media hypes are used strategically by politicians to forward their ongoing work and their positions in the public debate, thus if the media gains political influence because of media hypes one can only see this influence as diffuse and not directly linked to the media hypes themselves.

Everyday life consists of hundreds of choices of which many may have an impact on our health. The citizens of the modern Nordic welfare states are in general well-educated and thus can be assumed to know what is best for them. Despite this our health care systems face an increasing burden of lifestyle related diseases and there is a difference across the social gradient. Here building public health knowledge through communication is key. The reason for people making unhealthy choices are many and can be that; they do not know what is good for them (lack information) or do not understand (lack understanding) or do not care (carelessness). However it seems likely that it is more complex than that. Maybe they do not receive the information, because gets conveyed through channels that they do not consult or maybe the format of the message does not 'click'? Could it be, that 'one media message or channel does not fit all'? Over the last decades there has been an increased focus from both scientists themselves and politicians to scientific and practical field of 'science communication'. Consequently, various advanced modes of communicating e.g. health issues to the general populations have been developed, and today scholars of Mass Media term this development the 'scientification' of media. Furthermore, media and information availability has exploded since the emergence of the Internet in the early 1990s. Research has indicated that social gradient also is a factor affecting a person's media consumption and habit. In the healthy choices project we aim through novel methods to learn more about these challenges and at the develop new methods of conveying public health knowledge to enable people to make healthier choices across the social gradient. We have so far built a framework for this including a science group, consisting of public health experts, and a communication group consisting of experienced science communicators. The Science group is consulted about risk factors and health endpoints and what to prioritize. Two PhD students will be involved in; 1) assessing media consumption and usage related to health issues across social classes (Low social gradient versus high social gradient) and across the generational gap (young and elderly) and 2) develop and test various media message formats for target groups including considerations of the social gradient. This project will provide new understanding on how to communicate public health messages and reduce social inequalities in health.