By Brian Carnell

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

A study published in the British Medical Journal in July found that British newspapers generally only report on the weakest and most sensational medical research, underreporting strong research that reports good news.

The study looked at 1,193 articles published in the Lancet and the British Medical Journal, and then compared how press releases about those studies were described in the Times and Sun newspapers.

The study found that newspapers preferred reporting on stories based on observational data rather than randomized trials, even though the former is much weaker evidence than the latter. In addition, although press releases about studies were roughly equal as far as good and bad news, the newspapers were more likely to report on the studies with bad news.

Source:

Strongest medical evidence seldom considered newsworthy. EurekAlert, July 11, 2002.

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