Warwick Medical School, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2022 Jan 31;22(1):206. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-12548-8.
On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. From that date until the UK left the EU in January 2021, there were frequent warnings from industry and government sources of potential disruption to the food supply chain and possible food shortages. Over this period, the media had an important role in communicating on the potential impacts of Brexit. This study examines how food supply and demand, in the context of Brexit, was portrayed by the British media.
The study consisted of two components: (1) a quantitative analysis measuring frequency of reporting and information sources for articles on food supply and demand in the context of Brexit, in three daily newspapers, between January 2015 and January 2020; and (2) a content analysis exploring key themes and media framing of relevant issues in a subset of articles.
Reports by the media about the impact of Brexit on the UK food system were largely absent in the six months before the UK voted to leave the EU in June 2016, increasing in frequency from mid-2018 onward, peaking in mid-2019 following the appointment of Boris Johnson as prime minister. Five themes were developed from included articles: food shortages/panic buying (appearing in 96% of articles); food chain disruption (86%); economic impacts (80%); preparation and stockpiling by the government/food sector (63%) and preparation and stockpiling by individuals (22%).
Government messaging sought to reassure the public that even under a worst-case scenario there would be no food shortages. These messages, however, contradicted warnings in the media of disruption to the food supply chain and food shortages. The media further reinforced this narrative of potential food shortages by reporting on the experiences of those preparing for Brexit by stockpiling food. The media must consider the impact of their messaging on public behaviour, as even imagined food shortages can instigate stockpiling and panic buying behaviour, as observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2016 年 6 月 23 日，英国投票决定退出欧盟。自该日起至 2021 年英国离开欧盟期间，行业和政府来源频繁警告称，食品供应链可能会中断，可能出现食品短缺。在此期间，媒体在传播英国脱欧的潜在影响方面发挥了重要作用。本研究考察了英国媒体在英国脱欧背景下如何描述食品供应和需求。
该研究由两个部分组成：（1）对 2015 年 1 月至 2020 年 1 月期间，三家日报中关于英国脱欧背景下食品供应和需求的文章报道频率和信息来源进行定量分析；（2）对部分文章中相关问题的关键主题和媒体框架进行内容分析。
在 2016 年 6 月英国投票决定退出欧盟前的六个月，媒体对英国脱欧对英国食品系统影响的报道基本缺席，自 2018 年年中以来报道频率增加，在鲍里斯·约翰逊被任命为首相后的 2019 年年中达到顶峰。从纳入的文章中得出了五个主题：食品短缺/恐慌性购买（出现在 96%的文章中）；食物链中断（86%）；经济影响（80%）；政府/食品行业的准备和储备（63%）和个人的准备和储备（22%）。
政府的信息传递旨在向公众保证，即使在最坏的情况下，也不会出现食品短缺。然而，这些信息与媒体对食品供应链中断和食品短缺的警告相矛盾。媒体进一步通过报道那些通过储备食品为英国脱欧做准备的人的经历，强化了潜在食品短缺的说法。媒体必须考虑他们的信息传递对公众行为的影响，因为即使是想象中的食品短缺也会引发囤积和恐慌性购买行为，正如在 COVID-19 大流行期间所观察到的那样。
