I’m a bit late on this with only a few excuses. The birth of a new grandson. Computer problems. Living in the Minneapolis area and being focused on the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests. But this is worth addressing, even though a little late. CBS 60 Minutes broadcast a story it called, […]
This is a lesson for news readers from Fargo to Duluth to Toronto and places in between and beyond. The lesson is that you can’t jump to conclusions based on news stories about a single patient, or about a single researcher’s belief in a cure. Single anecdote stories There simply isn’t much you can say […]
When I taught media ethics in the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication, I’d be thrilled to teach in an auditorium filled with 150 students. This week, I spoke to an online course that has more than 7,000 international journalists enrolled from more than 150 countries. That’s what I’ve been told by […]
“The drugmaker Moderna said on Monday that the first coronavirus vaccine to be tested in people appeared to be safe and able to stimulate an immune response against the virus.” That’s what an early New York Times story reported yesterday. Erick Turner, MD, reacted on Twitter: Hey, didn’t you hear? The vaccine “appears to be […]
I’ve written it and said it before: I applaud most of the New York Times pandemic-era news coverage. But I continue to see head-scratching lapses in editorial approach and judgment – flaws that could be so easily corrected with a bit more caution and care. Hoping llamas will become coronavirus heroes is a Times story […]
This is the way many of my days begin these days, being blasted out of my chair by smart skepticism and criticism on coronavirus issues on social media. Today’s lift-off came from a virology researcher at Cornell: This LATimes article is INFURIATING. So much misinformation based on just that preprint. They took quotes from the […]
I am touched, and I chuckle, when an occasional follower on Twitter writes, “Oh, how I miss HealthNewsReview.org!” Or I’ll read, “We need HealthNewsReview.org now more than ever.” The fact is that these readers are usually reacting to something just published on HealthNewsReview.org, which is still alive. I think I know, though, what followers mean […]
On the day a study begins, there isn’t much you can say about it. There is no evidence. There is a hypothesis. You could talk about the protocol – how the study will be done. You can’t jump to any conclusions. This article questions why news organizations report on the first day of a study. […]
This will not be an article that questions the medical evidence being discussed. It will focus solely on how the message was communicated to a global audience. I believe that when the results of the NIH-sponsored remdesivir trial – Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT), sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – are […]
This morning, STAT News reported: The story begins: A government-run study of Gilead’s remdesivir, perhaps the most closely watched experimental drug to treat the novel coronavirus, showed that the medicine is effective against Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. Gilead made the announcement in a statement Wednesday, stating: “We understand that the trial has […]
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
A great read on this weekend’s NYT claims of a cure for Type 1.
Cure for Type 1 diabetes? We’ve been down this road before with NY Times https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/11/cure-for-type-1-diabetes-weve-been-down-this-road-before-with-ny-times/
"But it is the framing and the emphasis of the #journalism by a leading science journalist at a leading newspaper that demands scrutiny. It has an impact on readers and on sick people that may cause harm by promoting false hope about extremely preliminary research"
👍👏💪 truth https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1465399358137024518
Why we should still miss healthnewsreview. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1465399358137024518
Tips & Resources for Analyzing Health Care Claims
