Health News Review
Encyclopedia
Health News Review is a website that rates the completeness, accuracy, and balance of U.S. news stories about health care
. It builds on other similar initiatives, such as the Media Doctor website in Australia and the Behind the Headlines project in the UK. Its 10-point grading scale includes whether a story gives information about its sources and their competing interests, quantifies the benefits of a treatment, and appraises the evidence supporting the story's claims.
The website monitors the Associated Press
, the three leading U.S. newsweekly magazines, and the top 50 U.S. newspapers, measured by circulation. In its first 22 months, the website reviewed 500 news stories, and found that they usually failed to discuss evidence quality, alternative options, costs, and absolute sizes of benefits and harms; 41 (8%) of the stories got the highest scores, and are listed at their website.
Gary Schwitzer, the founder of Health News Review, was formerly a journalist at CNN
and founded the website while teaching journalism at the University of Minnesota
.
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
. It builds on other similar initiatives, such as the Media Doctor website in Australia and the Behind the Headlines project in the UK. Its 10-point grading scale includes whether a story gives information about its sources and their competing interests, quantifies the benefits of a treatment, and appraises the evidence supporting the story's claims.
The website monitors the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, the three leading U.S. newsweekly magazines, and the top 50 U.S. newspapers, measured by circulation. In its first 22 months, the website reviewed 500 news stories, and found that they usually failed to discuss evidence quality, alternative options, costs, and absolute sizes of benefits and harms; 41 (8%) of the stories got the highest scores, and are listed at their website.
Gary Schwitzer, the founder of Health News Review, was formerly a journalist at CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and founded the website while teaching journalism at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
.