Media Discourse Analyses: How has dying and death been portrayed in the national media over the past three years?

Overview

Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) is a national charity that addresses dying, death and bereavement in Ireland. IHF is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026 and as part of its role and mission on the national conversation in Death Dying and Bereavement, IHF wishes to commission an experienced researcher to undertake a media discourse analysis that explores how dying and death have been portrayed in the Irish national media over the past three years (2023-2025).

Budget: €8,000

Closing date for receipt of proposals: 3rd December 2025

About Irish Hospice Foundation 

At IHF, our vision is an Ireland where people facing end of life or bereavement, and those who care for them, are provided with the care and support that they need. Our mission is to work towards the best end-of-life and bereavement care for all. Our values are integrity, courage, compassion, respect and dignity.

Context for the Media Discourse Analyses

IHF is at the forefront of measuring, analysing and encouraging conversations in Ireland on the topics related to dying, death and bereavement. Our most recent research tells us that over half the population think we do not discuss dying and death enough, and just over three in five say that they feel at least relatively comfortable talking about dying and death.

IHF works to promote and normalise conversations about dying and death as it affects people at all life stages, whilst acknowledging that these conversations can be difficult. We believe that having more open conversations about dying and death is a key part of achieving our strategic priorities. 

A recent Lancet Commission on the Value of Death highlights that a fear of having ‘the difficult conversation’ can often lead to unclear communication by healthcare professionals and may lead to the prolonging of potentially inappropriate treatment.

If we are more comfortable talking about our own end-of-life wishes, those of our loved ones and the wishes of people in our care, then this can lead to better end-of-life experiences. It can also lead to better ways of saying goodbye, where people are less anxious about how to honour the person who is dying or has died, which in turns leads to better grief experiences, where more people feel empowered to support those who are grieving.

IHF recognises the importance of individuals and their families being provided with clear and balanced information relating to end-of-life care, dying and death to better inform their decision making and access to supports.

Our national media, plays a crucial role in social change and shaping and constructing public conversations, beliefs and awareness. A critical examination of how Irish national media portrays dying and death would, therefore, provide crucial evidence to inform IHF’s strategic activity. 

Previous literature has acknowledged that in the reporting of dying and death in the media, it is often seen that “most end-of-life experiences are not considered newsworthy, and so, except for death notices, are not reported in the media. Only tragic or unusual or remarkable end of life experiences and deaths tend to be reported in the media in any great detail”[1].

This project will explore how dying and death has been portrayed in the national media (e.g. printed media, radio and television) over the past three years (2023-2025). The study will examine and analyse representations and experiences of dying and death in the media, excluding reports related to deaths due to criminal activity, suicide, accidental and tragic deaths such as road deaths or drowning. 

Objectives 

The aim of this study is to examine and present an objective description of how information related to dying and death has been featured and framed in the Irish national media over the past three years.

The objectives for this project are to:

1. Describe and analyse end of life, dying and death related news items which have appeared in Irish national media over the past three years (2023-2025).
2. Understand how often and in what media, dying and death have featured.
3. Through examination of language and images in use, outline how media features and communicates the topic of dying and death.
4. Describe, through qualitative data analyses, the main repertoires, themes and discourses associated with the media coverage of dying and death.
5. Assess for the presence of, among other things, ideologies that relate to political or religious influences and trends, secularisation or environmental beliefs, and whether these ideologies, trends and changing norms were represented within the media, in relation to dying and death, during this period.

Approach

This will be a collaborative project with the appointed research team in IHF who will provide input and feedback on the data collection and guide the analyses and agreed deliverables.  Working closely with the team in IHF the approach by the appointed researchers will encompass a number of key components:

• Review
  • Review the various media items and features where dying and death are covered in the national media outlets (radio, printed/online press and television).
• Analysis
  • Analyses of the press materials/items identified, describing their main characteristics, number of items released throughout the years, in what media, how often some specific topics/themes are covered, etc.
  • Applying a qualitative research data analyses methodology (e.g. reflexive thematic analyses, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), critical discourse) describe the main thematics, topics, discourses and/or repertoires identified in the selected media items.
• Write up
  • A final report of the study findings, incorporating input and feedback from the study team, will include an abstract, brief contextual introduction/background, aims/objectives, methods, results/findings, discussion and suggested recommendations.
• Dissemination
• IHF will have ownership of the report and will acknowledge and credit the authors in the dissemination of it, as per best practice and in line with authorship guidelines.
  • The report will be used for internal publication and may inform later external publications with acknowledgement to the author. IHF reserves the right to edit the final report in line with our own style guidelines.
  • IHF is committed to sharing its research findings in both academic and non-academic formats, aiming to reach various expert and non-expert audiences. This piece of work may contribute to a (one or more, if scope permits) scientific peer-reviewed publication (in a scientific journal). 

• Data Sharing

  • Provide IHF with the data collated in the analyses in a format that supports the narrative write up of the findings, for example tables, graphs, charts.
  • Provide guidance and timely responses to IHF-generated queries relating to interpretation of the data. 

Deliverables

1. Final report from the data analysis undertaken, responding to the agreed objectives, including an abstract, brief contextual introduction/background, aims/objectives, methods, results/findings, discussion and suggested recommendations.
2. Executive summary document, aimed at a non-expert audience, outlining main findings and most relevant messages/learning from the study with a short contextual background and overview of the methods used.
3. Ongoing engagement throughout the report development and final presentation to relevant members of the appointed team in IHF.
4. Provision of the raw data collected and analysed throughout the study to IHF in adequate, readable and usable format.

Tender proposals must include: 

• Process/timetable listing key milestones (for reporting progress on the key stages of development) and proposed dates for meeting these
• Methodology to be used – including which data analysis methods and tools will be used
• Detailed budget breakdown, including staff time and costs (inclusive of VAT)
• Breakdown of time allocation
• Identification of any conflicts of interest
• Description of relevant expertise and prior experience of team involved
• Examples of similar work undertaken, where relevant 

• Contact details for two referees, that IHF can contact who have engaged with you for similar/ related work 

Budget

The budget for this work will be a maximum of €8,000 and must include VAT and other associated expenses.

Assessment criteria

In line with IHF procedures, applications will be assessed against the following criteria: 

• Quality of proposed methodology and approach to the work in relation to the outlined objectives
• Expertise of the project team in relation to the proposed methodology
• Experience of undertaking similar work
• Overall quality of the proposal
• Access to relevant sources of material and software to undertake the work (e.g. media databases, broadcast footage and recording etc) .
• Cost of the work 

**Approach                 40%

Experience                  40%

Costing                        20%

**Particular consideration will be given to the timeline for the completion of the work.

Timeframe

• The closing date for receipt of tender proposals is 03rd December 2025
• Shortlisted candidates will be notified by 09th December 2025 with interviews held online week commencing 15th December 2025
• It is envisaged that this work will commence in early January 2026 and the final report will be delivered by the end of March 2026.

For further information 

Please contact the IHF Research Team – research@hospicefoundation.ie or Neil Fullerton, Research & Policy Officer, on 01 679 3196 for further information or if you have any queries 

[1] Quinlan, Christina (2009) "Media Discourses on Autonomy in Dying and Death," Irish Communication Review: Vol. 11: Iss. 1, Article 3. doi:10.21427/D7XM8T