ArticlePloS one2009
Media reporting of health interventions: signs of improvement, but major problems persist.
Article in PloS one, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Quality of information in news media reports about the effects of health interventions: Systematic review and meta-analyses.F1000Research · 2021Pooled it
- Content Analysis of Austrian Print and Online Newspaper Coverage of Breastfeeding Over Two Decades.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Twenty-year follow-up of promising clinical studies reported in highly circulated newspapers: a meta-epidemiological study.BMJ health & care informatics · 2023Article
- Potential of UK and US newspapers for shaping patients' knowledge and perceptions about antidiabetic medicines: a content analysis.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2022Article
- Dementia in Media Coverage: A Comparative Analysis of Two Online Newspapers across Time.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Newspaper media representation of electronic cigarette use during pregnancy.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2021Article
- [A modular model for quality assessment in medical and nutritional journalism].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2021Article
- Spreading Ideas: TED Talks' Role in Cancer Communication and Public Engagement.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2020Article
- Tell health stories comprehensively and accurately: A case study of health edition of People's Daily.International journal of nursing sciences · 2020Article
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- Can we improve the quality of medical news merely by increasing journalists' health knowledge?Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran · 2019Article
- Depoliticising addiction: Who gets to speak in European press reporting, 1991-2011?Nordisk alkohol- & narkotikatidskrift : NAT · 2018Article
- Quality assessment of nutrition coverage in the media: a 6-week survey of five popular UK newspapers.BMJ open · 2017Article
- A qualitative study exploring high school students' understanding of, and attitudes towards, health information and claims.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2017Article
- The development and validation of an instrument to measure the quality of health research reports in the lay media.BMC public health · 2017Article
- Promoting the Quality of Health Research-based News: Introduction of a Tool.International journal of preventive medicine · 2017Article
- Health Reporting in Print Media in Lebanon: Evidence, Quality and Role in Informing Policymaking.PloS one · 2015Article
- When Medical News Comes from Press Releases-A Case Study of Pancreatic Cancer and Processed Meat.PloS one · 2015Article
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Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStudies have persistently shown deficiencies in medical reporting by the mainstream media. We have been monitoring the accuracy and comprehensiveness of medical news reporting in Australia since mid 2004. This analysis of more than 1200 stories in the Australian media compares different types of media outlets and examines reporting trends over time. METHODS AND
findingsBetween March 2004 and June 2008 1230 news stories were rated on a national medical news monitoring web site, Media Doctor Australia. These covered a variety of health interventions ranging from drugs, diagnostic tests and surgery to dietary and complementary therapies. Each story was independently assessed by two reviewers using ten criteria. Scores were expressed as percentages of total assessable items deemed satisfactory according to a coding guide. Analysis of variance was used to compare mean scores and Fishers exact test to compare proportions. Trends over time were analysed using un-weighted linear regression analysis. Broadsheet newspapers had the highest average satisfactory scores: 58% (95% CI 56-60%), compared with tabloid newspapers and online news outlets, 48% (95% CI 44-52) and 48% (95% CI 46-50) respectively. The lowest scores were assigned to stories broadcast by human interest/current affairs television programmes (average score 33% (95% CI 28-38)). While there was a non- significant increase in average scores for all outlets, a significant improvement was seen in the online news media: a rise of 5.1% (95%CI 1.32, 8.97; P 0.009). Statistically significant improvements were seen in coverage of the potential harms of interventions, the availability of treatment or diagnostic options, and accurate quantification of benefits.
conclusionAlthough the overall quality of medical reporting in the general media remains poor, this study showed modest improvements in some areas. However, the most striking finding was the continuing very poor coverage of health news by commercial current affairs television programs.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.