On the HealthNewsReview.org website, we're making a new effort to compare how different news organizations did in covering the same story. Our broadest analysis yet is now posted in a Publisher's Note on that site.
It covers eight different stories by seven different news organizations on the recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on CT scan screening of smokers.
Summary:
* 6 of 8 failed to adequately discuss potential harms of such screening, which can include radiation exposure, needless anxiety after receiving a potentially false positive result and significant medical complications associated with biopsies.
* 6 of 8 stories failed to adequately address the availability of CAT scan machines that can be used for the lung cancer screening described.
* 4 of 8 stories failed to discuss the costs of such screening, which were discussed in the journal article upon which the stories were based. Estimates range from $200 to $1,000 per scan, so this is a significant issue that half the stories ignored.
* 5 of 8 stories relied on a single source (relying only on authors of the published study) and/or failed to present balanced, independent perspectives.
Posted by schwitz at December 12, 2006 08:27 AM | TrackBack