Scores on Eight Lung Cancer Screening Stories
Created 12/11/06
the last Publisher’s Note, I wrote about our reviews of six stories by six different news organizations on a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine about CAT scan screening for lung cancer in smokers.
After that Note was published, we posted two more reviews of other stories on that study.
U.S. News & World Report – one star
NBC Nightly News – two stars
Overall, then, of the eight stories we reviewed on this topic:
* 6 of 8 failed to adequately discuss potential harms of such screening, which can include radiation exposure, needless anxiety after receiving a potentially false positive result and significant medical complications associated with biopsies.
* 6 of 8 stories failed to adequately address the availability of CAT scan machines that can be used for the lung cancer screening described.
* 4 of 8 stories failed to discuss the costs of such screening, which were discussed in the journal article upon which the stories were based. Estimates range from $200 to $1,000 per scan, so this is a significant issue that half the stories ignored.
* 5 of 8 stories relied on a single source (relying only on authors of the published study) and/or failed to present balanced, independent perspectives.
Each story was reviewed by three independent reviewers using the same evaluation criteria.
We will continue to look for such cross-media comparisons and hope you find the reviews helpful.
Gary Schwitzer
Publisher
HealthNewsReview.org
Other "Notes from Publisher"
July 7, 2008 Update At The 600-Story Mark
June 9, 2008 In Our Forum: Reviewer Adds Comments On Hype, USNWR Acne Story
May 27, 2008 Some Journalists’ “Kid In The Candy Store” Portrayal of US Health Care
April 25, 2008 Terrible Two With a New Look for You
December 30, 2007 Bothered By "Breakthroughs"
December 20, 2007 Does your language fit the evidence?
November 8, 2007 News releases & scientific meetings: A guest editor column
October 24, 2007 How four stories fared in covering Alzheimer's blood test study
September 23, 2007 Reader response to "Too Brief To Matter" discussion
September 14, 2007 Too Brief To Matter - Part Two: The benefits/harms of briefs & digests
August 20, 2007 Finalist for 2007 International Health & Medical Media Award
June 14, 2007 WINNER OF FIRST-EVER MIRROR AWARD HONORING EXCELLENCE IN MEDIA INDUSTRY REPORTING
May 29, 2007 HealthNewsReview.org a finalist for first-ever Mirror Awards
March 30, 2007 Networks’ pro-screening enthusiasm
March 14, 2007 Troubling TV Health News Trends
January 28, 2007 Too Brief To Matter
December 11, 2006 Scores on Eight Lung Cancer Screening Stories
November 16, 2006 COMPARING DIFFERENT MEDIA ON THE SAME STORY
October 17, 2006 Newspapers lift wire stories, but may miss the best of the original story.
July 27, 2006 Public response to HealthNewsReview.org
June 18, 2006 CNN screening advice for women
May 11, 2006 CNN screening advice for men
April 16, 2006 Launching the site
|
|
