Letters
Who gains from the media’s misrepresentation of science?
News coverage of clinical research
BMJ 2016; 352 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i1177 (Published 02 March 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;352:i1177
- Andrew Grey, associate professor1,
- Michael T M Wang, medical student1,
- Mark J Bolland, associate professor1
- 1Department of Medicine, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
- a.grey{at}auckland.ac.nz
We share McCartney’s concerns about health reporting.1 Media reports of research findings provide “impact” for academics and institutions, increase journals’ visibility and status, and accrue customers for news agencies. However, poor quality reporting causes unwarranted alarm or unrealistic expectations, promotes ineffective or unsafe health behaviours, and decreases faith in medical research when subsequent …
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