Media Portrayal of Terminally Ill Patients' Right to Die

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Communications - Mass Media, grade: 88%, Communication University of China (Institute of Communication Stuides), course: International Communication, language: English, abstract: For many people, it is of paramount importance that life is preserved in every sense of the word. But for terminally ill patients, life seems hopeless to the point where death becomes their only way out of suffering and excruciating pain. This paper identifies two terminally ill patients' cases and their pursuit to fight for their right-to-die. To identify their cases, this paper examines literature on physician assisted suicide and active euthanasia coupled with the news articles.

This examination indicates that there are vast distinctions between the two methods terminally patients can use to die. These methods, arguments for and against, and the media representation of both patients' cases are the central platforms of this paper. I hypothesized that the media portrayal of terminally ill patients' right to physician assisted suicide or voluntary active euthanasia is positive and this portrayal is geared towards support for those patients' right-to-die. This hypothesis hinges on media articles on Brittany Maynard and Grace Sung Eun Lee cases as portrayed in online news sources.