Medical journalism is the dissemination of health-related information through mainstream media outlets. Medical issues are widely reported, and these reports influence doctors, the general public, and the government. The coverage is often criticized for being misleading, inaccurate, or speculative. Several web sites and journals review medical journalism.

Accuracy

News coverage is often criticized for being misleading, inaccurate, or speculative, and this has been traced to several problems that include lack of knowledge by reporters, lack of time to prepare a proper report, and lack of space in the publication. Most news articles fail to discuss important issues such as evidence quality, costs, and risks versus benefits. However, medical journalism is not only what is being commercialized and covered by news and mass media. There is also another extensive, more academic branch of medical journalism which is based on evidence. Evidence-based research is more accurate and thus it is a much more reliable source than medical news disseminated by tabloids. Medical journalism in this regard is a professional field and is often disregarded. There are also some medical journalism institutions that provide assistance to medical researchers to enable them to perform more reliable studies. Adib Vira Medical Journalism Open Institute provides services for both medical researchers and journals in order to enhance the quality of studies and journals, as well as assist researchers in performing their studies ethically and according to global medical journalism standards. Although medical news articles often deliver public health messages effectively, they often convey wrong or misleading information about health care, partly when reporters do not know or cannot convey the results of clinical studies, and partly when they fail to supply reasonable context. A 2009 study found small improvements in some areas of medical reporting in Australia, but the overall quality remained poor, particularly in commercial human-interest television programs.

Conflict of interest

Medical journalists also face challenges due to potential conflicts of interest. The pharmaceutical industry has sponsored journalism contests that carry large prizes in cash or in overseas trips. The Association of Health Care Journalists

Association of Health Care Journalists

The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. Its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. There are more than 1,100 members of...

 (AHCJ) urges journalists to consider these contests carefully before entering, and most journalists avoid them. The Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, the supporting 501(c)(3) for AHCJ, does not accept industry funding. The National Association of Science Writers

National Association of Science Writers

The National Association of Science Writers was created in 1934 by a dozen science journalists and reporters in New York City. The aim of the organization was to improve the craft of science journalism and to promote good science reportage....

 does not accept such funding. The changing nature of news media has caused more reporters to work freelance, outside of traditional news organizations such as major metropolitan newspapers, which may have created more ways to sidestep conflict-of-interest standards, and the rise of blogs has allowed nontraditional providers of news that lack these standards entirely.

Reviews

Sources for evaluating health-care media coverage include the review websites Behind the Headlines, Health News Review

Health News Review

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...

, and Media Doctor (see External links), along with specialized academic journals such as the Journal of Health Communication. Reviews can also appear in the American Journal of Public Health

American Journal of Public Health

The American Journal of Public Health is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Public Health Association covering health policy and public health. The journal was established in 1911 and its stated mission is "to advance public health research, policy, practice, and...

, the Columbia Journalism Review

Columbia Journalism Review

The Columbia Journalism Review is an American magazine for professional journalists published bimonthly by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961....

, Ben Goldacre

Ben Goldacre

Ben Michael Goldacre born 1974 is a British science writer, doctor and psychiatrist. He is the author of The Guardian newspaper's weekly Bad Science column and a book of the same title, published by Fourth Estate in September 2008....

's "Bad Science" column in The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, and others. Health News Review has published criteria for rating news stories.

External links

• Media Doctor (Australia)
• Behind the Headlines (UK)
• Health News Review (U.S.)
• How to Read Articles about Health and Healthcare by Alicia White