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Reporting Science and Conflicts of Interest in the Lay Press

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  • Daniel M Cook
  • Elizabeth A Boyd
  • Claudia Grossmann
  • Lisa A Bero

Abstract

Background: Forthright reporting of financial ties and conflicts of interest of researchers is associated with public trust in and esteem for the scientific enterprise. Methods/Principal Findings: We searched Lexis/Nexis Academic News for the top news stories in science published in 2004 and 2005. We conducted a content analysis of 1152 newspaper stories. Funders of the research were identified in 38% of stories, financial ties of the researchers were reported in 11% of stories, and 5% reported financial ties of sources quoted. Of 73 stories not reporting on financial ties, 27% had financial ties publicly disclosed in scholarly journals. Conclusions/Significance: Because science journalists often did not report conflict of interest information, adherence to gold-standard recommendations for science journalism was low. Journalists work under many different constraints, but nonetheless news reports of scientific research were incomplete, potentially eroding public trust in science.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel M Cook & Elizabeth A Boyd & Claudia Grossmann & Lisa A Bero, 2007. "Reporting Science and Conflicts of Interest in the Lay Press," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(12), pages 1-5, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0001266
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001266
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Patrick DeLuca & Steve Buist & Neil Johnston, 2012. "The Code Red Project: Engaging Communities in Health System Change in Hamilton, Canada," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(2), pages 317-327, September.
    2. Luca Iaboli & Luana Caselli & Angelina Filice & Gianpaolo Russi & Eleonora Belletti, 2010. "The Unbearable Lightness of Health Science Reporting: A Week Examining Italian Print Media," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(3), pages 1-6, March.
    3. Maike Winters & Anna Larsson & Jan Kowalski & Carl Johan Sundberg, 2019. "The association between quality measures of medical university press releases and their corresponding news stories—Important information missing," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(6), pages 1-14, June.

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