Schwitzer’s year-end thoughts on health journalism
Gary Schwitzer, publisher of HealthNewsReview.org and an associate professor in the University of Minnesota’s School of Journalism & Mass Communication, posted “10 trends in health care journalism going into 2010.” He looks back at the good, the bad, the ugly and the data, as well as looking toward the future and offering a few words of advice for health journalists.
Improving reporting on medical studies (#ahcj09)
“It is possible for good health journalists to provide spectacular stories on health,” said David Henry, CEO of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.
During the afternoon panel on “Statistics, Conclusions, Limitations: Reporting on Medical Studies” at the annual Association of Health Care Journalists meeting in Seattle both Henry and moderator Gary Schwitzer, concurred that most health and medical reporting is inaccurate, imbalanced and incomplete. “After three years and 750 stories reviewed there is still a ‘kid-in-the-candy-store projection of health’ in most health news,”Schwitzer said shortly before he launched into a dissection of several news stories.
Independent journalist Christy Fricks writes about the panel - links to the speakers’ presenations are included.
Do audiences understand health stories? (#ahcj09)
Health journalists understand some of the key elements audiences need to better understand health stories, but they also misunderstand the impact statistical information has on audience comprehension, according to a University of Missouri researcher.
Speaking at the Association of Health Care Journalists’ annual conference, assistant professor Amanda Hinnant, Ph.D., said the results of a survey she and colleagues conducted showed that health journalists realize audiences will be more likely to understand health stories that include a human element, use graphics to illustrate important information and employ a conversational tone.
Kim Walsh-Childers, Ph.D., of the University of Florida writes about the panel - includes a link to Hinnant’s presenation.
Jobs’ letter too vague for meaningful reporting
Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed on Monday that he has a “hormone imbalance” that has caused his weight loss, something Apple followers have been discussing for some time. Jobs did not identify what caused the imbalance or give any further information about his diagnosis. He did say he is being treated and that the “remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward.” Jobs had surgery in the past to treat a an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor in the pancreas.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the Worldwide Developers Conference in 2007. Photo by acaben via Flickr.
Despite the dearth of information about Jobs’ condition, a number of news reports have speculated about the diagnosis, what could have caused it and more.
The Los Angeles Times spoke to medical experts who did not have access to Jobs’ health records. They said “a hormone imbalance in a pancreatic cancer survivor raises red flags about a possible recurrence.” They also theorized that his earlier surgery could have “left Jobs with a pancreas too small to produce the necessary enzymes.”
U.S. News & World Report quotes a neuroendocrinologist who says “the key elements in his statement … do not clearly point to a single diagnosis.” The medical experts in the article say his statement could refer to an endocrine disorder, that his condition could be an aftereffect of his pancreatic surgery or that it could be a new tumor.
The New York Times focuses mostly on the announcement’s effect on Apple’s stock price and future, though it does include speculation from a doctor who has no personal knowledge of Jobs’ medical history who also posits that his condition could be related to the pancreatic cancer surgery.
Bloomberg offers some details about the specific kind of pancreatic tumor Jobs had. It also says that, according to a doctor, the usual treatment is a Whipple procedure that “can lead to a digestive condition known as dumping syndrome, which causes people to lose weight.”
Scientific American talked to medical experts who agree that Jobs’ description of his condition is too vague to lead to a diagnosis. One professor did point out that it suggests a problem with the endocrine system but that “endocrine disorders are not generally considered to be ‘nutritional problems.’”
Similarly, Wired quotes several doctors who conclude Jobs has not released enough information for anyone to diagnose the problem. One doctor refused to comment and another said “armchair diagnoses” are not reasonable or productive.
In The Wall Street Journal, Clay Semenkovich, an endocrinologist at Washington University in St. Louis, who isn’t involved in Jobs’s treatment, said, “To an endocrinologist, the most vague statement you can ever make is the term ‘hormone imbalance.’”
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Health Journalism 2010, AHCJ's annual conference, features a world-class program with story ideas, sources, stronger reporting skills, chances to meet newsmakers and network with other journalists.
- Health and education: Covering these intersecting beats
- Reporting on the business of health care
- Health reporting resources for journalists on state and local government beats
- Shortened Lives: How location, lifestyle affect health
- Covering a complex story for the long haul
- Aging in the 21st Century: Presentations and tip sheets
- AHCJ calls for better information from Joint Commission Web site
