Healthy Skepticism Library item: 18635

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Dantzer S
Perspective: Communicating Medical News—Pitfalls of Health Care Journalism
New England Journal of Medicine 2009 Jan 1; 360:1- 3
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0805753

Abstract:

Whether they realize it or not, journalists reporting on health care developments deliver public health messages that can influence the behavior of clinicians and patients. Often these messages are delivered effectively by seasoned reporters who perform thoughtfully even in the face of breaking news and tight deadlines. But all too frequently, what is conveyed about health by many other journalists is wrong or misleading. Some distortion is attributable to ignorance or an inability to interpret and convey the nuanced results of clinical studies. And some is due to uncertainty about journalists’ proper role: Is our job to describe the bigger picture, or simply to report what is “new”? Should we present black-and-white versions of reality that lend themselves to stark headlines, rather than grayer complexities that are harder to distill into simple truths?

I believe that when journalists ignore complexities or fail to provide context, the public health messages they convey are inevitably inadequate or distorted. The news media need to become more knowledgeable and to embrace more fully our role in delivering to the public accurate, complete, and balanced messages about health. With some additional skills, care, and introspection – and a change in priorities – we can produce coverage more in line with our responsibilities. …