I’m proud to unveil a project I’ve been working on for 8 months. Please visit HealthNewsReview.org to see a new attempt to help improve health journalism in the U.S.
A team of more than 20 reviewers from journalism, medicine, public health and health services research will evaluate and grade health news stories that include claims of efficacy or safety about treatments or procedures in health care.
An Associated Press story on the launch today quotes one observer saying she hopes the site doesn’t “end up being another media-bashing exercise.” This website is not about media-bashing. It is quite the opposite: it is about supporting excellence in health/medical journalism.
We hope that journalists and consumers will use HealthNewsReview.org each day to help improve critical thinking and scrutiny of new ideas in health care. And we welcome your feedback.
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
The world is watching US.
Since Sep 2018, at least 7 children have died in US custody, including 3 from influenza-related complications.
"Outbreaks & deaths in detention centers point to the need for influenza immunization in these facilities"
And more
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1916894#.XjJFqg9wXys.twitter
More for milk debates: "Switching to skim #milk may slow biological aging" https://upi.com/6975065t via @upi cc @garyschwitzer @joansalgeblake
"We can't say that this was caused by milk fat." As is often the case with nutrition studies: correlation ≠ causation.
#RelaxDammit
Comments (2)
Please note, comments are no longer published through this website. All previously made comments are still archived and available for viewing through select posts.
Ira Allen
April 17, 2006 at 11:00 amExcellent new site (and great p.r. getting it at the top of the AP listings on Yahoo!)
Projects like this are vital to helping patients and doctors make the best use of evidence and make the best decisions for themselves. There is no one answer to most health issues, but there are no answers at all when information is muddled.
Over the long run, HealthNewsReview.org ought to sensitize journalists — especially editors — to the complexities of medical studies as well as help consumers at least ask the right questions.
Of course, over the long run we are all dead. But may your site and others like it help delay the inevitable.
Ira Allen
Center for the Advancement of Health
Our Comments Policy
But before leaving a comment, please review these notes about our policy.
You are responsible for any comments you leave on this site.
This site is primarily a forum for discussion about the quality (or lack thereof) in journalism or other media messages (advertising, marketing, public relations, medical journals, etc.) It is not intended to be a forum for definitive discussions about medicine or science.
We will delete comments that include personal attacks, unfounded allegations, unverified claims, product pitches, profanity or any from anyone who does not list a full name and a functioning email address. We will also end any thread of repetitive comments. We don”t give medical advice so we won”t respond to questions asking for it.
We don”t have sufficient staffing to contact each commenter who left such a message. If you have a question about why your comment was edited or removed, you can email us at feedback@healthnewsreview.org.
There has been a recent burst of attention to troubles with many comments left on science and science news/communication websites. Read “Online science comments: trolls, trash and treasure.”
The authors of the Retraction Watch comments policy urge commenters:
We”re also concerned about anonymous comments. We ask that all commenters leave their full name and provide an actual email address in case we feel we need to contact them. We may delete any comment left by someone who does not leave their name and a legitimate email address.
And, as noted, product pitches of any sort – pushing treatments, tests, products, procedures, physicians, medical centers, books, websites – are likely to be deleted. We don”t accept advertising on this site and are not going to give it away free.
The ability to leave comments expires after a certain period of time. So you may find that you’re unable to leave a comment on an article that is more than a few months old.
You might also like