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When Medical News Comes from Press Releases—A Case Study of Pancreatic Cancer and Processed Meat

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph W Taylor
  • Marie Long
  • Elizabeth Ashley
  • Alex Denning
  • Beatrice Gout
  • Kayleigh Hansen
  • Thomas Huws
  • Leifa Jennings
  • Sinead Quinn
  • Patrick Sarkies
  • Alex Wojtowicz
  • Philip M Newton

Abstract

The media have a key role in communicating advances in medicine to the general public, yet the accuracy of medical journalism is an under-researched area. This project adapted an established monitoring instrument to analyse all identified news reports (n = 312) on a single medical research paper: a meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Cancer which showed a modest link between processed meat consumption and pancreatic cancer. Our most significant finding was that three sources (the journal press release, a story on the BBC News website and a story appearing on the ‘NHS Choices’ website) appeared to account for the content of over 85% of the news stories which covered the meta analysis, with many of them being verbatim or moderately edited copies and most not citing their source. The quality of these 3 primary sources varied from excellent (NHS Choices, 10 of 11 criteria addressed) to weak (journal press release, 5 of 11 criteria addressed), and this variance was reflected in the accuracy of stories derived from them. Some of the methods used in the original meta-analysis, and a proposed mechanistic explanation for the findings, were challenged in a subsequent commentary also published in the British Journal of Cancer, but this discourse was poorly reflected in the media coverage of the story.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph W Taylor & Marie Long & Elizabeth Ashley & Alex Denning & Beatrice Gout & Kayleigh Hansen & Thomas Huws & Leifa Jennings & Sinead Quinn & Patrick Sarkies & Alex Wojtowicz & Philip M Newton, 2015. "When Medical News Comes from Press Releases—A Case Study of Pancreatic Cancer and Processed Meat," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-13, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0127848
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127848
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gary Schwitzer & Ganapati Mudur & David Henry & Amanda Wilson & Merrill Goozner & Maria Simbra & Melissa Sweet & Katherine A Baverstock, 2005. "What Are the Roles and Responsibilities of the Media in Disseminating Health Information?," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(7), pages 1-1, July.
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    5. Amanda Wilson & Jane Robertson & Patrick McElduff & Alison Jones & David Henry, 2010. "Does It Matter Who Writes Medical News Stories?," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(9), pages 1-5, September.
    6. Amélie Yavchitz & Isabelle Boutron & Aida Bafeta & Ibrahim Marroun & Pierre Charles & Jean Mantz & Philippe Ravaud, 2012. "Misrepresentation of Randomized Controlled Trials in Press Releases and News Coverage: A Cohort Study," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(9), pages 1-11, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Larsson & Susanna Appel & Carl Johan Sundberg & Mårten Rosenqvist, 2019. "Medicine and the media: Medical experts’ problems and solutions while working with journalists," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-12, September.
    2. 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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