Last weekend I watched examples of the good and the ugly in TV health news.
The good was a segment on Bill Moyers Journal on PBS, in which journalist Melody Petersen discussed her new book, “Our Daily Meds,” and how drug companies sell their products.
The ugly was on CNN’s House Call during which CNN again gave unsupported, non-evidence-based health test advice to women of various age groups. And they featured an interview with Dr. Christiane Northrup, author of “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom,” in which they let the author get away with saying – unchallenged:
“I had a big old fibroid, big as a soccer ball, right side, OK? Right side, typically the masculine side, or the men in your life. And I believe that fibroids, which 40 percent of women have, are creativity that hasn’t been burst yet, or they are creative energy that we have pushed into a dead end job or a relationship.”
There was no counter to that statement, no challenge, not even a look of incredulity. What did that mean?
What kind of journalism is that to let someone say that on the air without explanation? Believe me, it burst my bubble when I heard it!
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
The tale of two “negative” studies. Or, how spin is applied to make research findings look more impressive. A must read. https://johnmandrola.substack.com/p/the-tale-of-two-negative-studies
The @nytimes chose to interview one of the editors of the @AnnalsofIM (publisher of this paper) who "gushed with extraordinary glee: It’s huge! There are very few things that reduce your mortality by 30%."
Turns out coffee is not one of those few things despite all that glee. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1533202075928215558
Comments
Please note, comments are no longer published through this website. All previously made comments are still archived and available for viewing through select posts.
Comments are closed.
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