BLOGS: HealthNewsReview.org: a daily checkup on U.S. health news coverage by Gary Schwitzer

Gary Schwitzer is Publisher of HealthNewsReview.org. He’s a journalism professor at the University of Minnesota, a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and, formerly, a 15-year television medical news reporter.

There’s probably never been as much high-quality health care journalism in the U.S. as there is today, but, at the same time, there’s probably never been as much schlock.  We invite THCB readers to visit our site – HealthNewsReview.org – a groundbreaking effort to provide daily checkups of U.S health news coverage.   

A team of more than two dozen reviewers from across the U.S. – organized and funded by the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making - regularly reviews health care news stories reported by about 60 major news organizations.  The reviewers have different backgrounds – journalism, public health, medicine, health services research – but they apply the same 10 standardized criteria in their reviews of stories.  (See “How We Rate Stories”) 

After a little more than a year of operation, and after reviewing 400 stories, our database allows us to hold up a pretty clear mirror to news decision-makers about their performance. 

One clear area of failure: discussion of health care costs. At a time when health care spending represents 16% of the GDP, the costs of ideas being discussed in news stories are ignored in the vast majority of stories.  Close behind is the failure to quantify the size of the benefits and harms of treatments, tests, products and procedures. Such news coverage creates almost a “kid-in-the-candy-store” portrayal of health care – all new ideas are amazing, harmless, and cost isn’t an issue. 

When you think about how many Americans may get most of their health care information from major news organizations, this is a troubling picture that feeds the “worried well,” the “pill for every ill” portion of the population, and the cyberchondriacs with unrealistic expectations of their health care system. Is it any wonder why we have a difficult time engaging citizens in a meaningful discussion of health care reform?

Journalists have been overwhelmingly receptive to our reviews.  It is clear that many of them aren’t getting this kind of guidance from editors in their newsrooms and they welcome our independent, balanced reviews. Health care journalism has taken a beating in the current economy of many news organizations, where staff cutbacks sometimes result in the expectation that fewer do more with less. Of all beats, of all topics, health care may be the one that can least afford such cutbacks.

We welcome your readers’ visits to our site and their feedback.  If we can help improve health journalism and the flow of information to consumers, maybe we can help improve the national discussion about health care.