Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview.org usually points out where journalists fail in medical coverage.
Issues in science writing
Khalil A. Cassimally thinks they do, and says as much in this post on the Scitable site. "The number of quality science bloggers on the web is ever-increasing. And yet, the sizes of reputable science blogging networks are not," Cassimally writes. In the comments, big names such as Carl Zimmer, Ed Yong, David Dobbs and Martin Robbins tell him he's wrong. "The people doing well now generally didn't wait for an opportunity, they created one," Robbins responds.
Gary Schwitzer makes a living critiquing health coverage on the Health News Review web site. In a post on the Engaging the Patient site, Schwitzer expounds on the three most common errors he sees: Confusing association with causation; focusing on relative risk but not absolute risk, and portraying screening tests "as an imperative, not as a decision." "The words matter," he writes. "Accuracy, balance and completeness in news stories matters."
"He said, she said" is a long but not proud journalistic tradition. Now one of the most aggressive climate change chroniclers stands accused of that sin. The target: Andrew Revkin on his New York Times blog, "Dot Earth." The accuser: former Scientific American editor-in-chief John Rennie, who judges Revkin guilty of "an almost reflexive effort to seem journalistically objective." Revkin responds and Rennie replies.
The debate has continued since our Oct. 4 post on whether reporters should let scientists fact-check stories that quote them or discuss their work. Three Cardiff University psychologists argued in the Guardian that the usual rules don't apply to science stories. Next, Seth Mnookin called that piece "a jaw-dropping mixture of ignorance and arrogance." More here and here.
Should federal employees have to notify their public affairs office before talking to a reporter? That's been an informal policy at many agencies and now some are codifying it, including the Department of Health and Human Services. In this report from the Association of Health Care Journalists, the strengths and weaknesses of the new proposed guidelines are discussed.
Many journalism outlets have strict rules against showing stories or parts of stories to sources before publication. But some science writers, it turns out, bend that rule. Several blogs discussed that issue recently after Trine Tsouderos, a Chicago Tribune science writer, disclosed her fact-checking practices. Other writers commented, as summarized by David Kroll. Ananyo Bhattacharya of Nature spoke in opposition.
If anyone knows about arsenic, it's former NASW President Deborah Blum, who wrote a book on the subject of that and other poisons. Here on her Speakeasy Science blog, she takes apart the popular daytime talk host Dr. Mehmet Oz for his recent show on arsenic levels in apple juice. She saves her best criticism for last — that Dr. Oz squandered an golden opportunity to educate people about the real danger of arsenic, especially in drinking water.
Publishers of academic journals are "the most ruthless capitalists in the western world," George Monbiot writes in the Guardian. "The material they publish was commissioned and funded not by them but by us, through government research grants and academic stipends. But to see it, we must pay again, and through the nose," Monbiot says. More views from Martin Robbins, Noah Gray and Ben Goldacre.
Did you hear Piers Morgan got suspended from CNN? If so, you witnessed the latest journalistic dustup in the Twittersphere. Ross Neumann and Steve Myers used Storify to show how the misinformation spread. TheNextWeb has a more detailed account. But get this: Felix Salmon of Reuters thinks it's no big deal if journalists post rumors on Twitter. Rem Rieder says that's nuts.