Ten troublesome trends in TV health news: A 2002 Gallup poll showed that many Americans consider television their most important source of news and information on health. It also showed that television is one of the least trusted sources of such news and information. I studied each of the 840 health news stories that appeared between February and May 2003 on four television stations (KARE, KSTP, KMSP, WCCO) in Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota, where I live. As I watched hours of health news coverage, 10 troublesome trends scrolled across the screen:
Too brief to matter
No full time health journalists
No data to back up sensational claims
Hyperbole
Commercialism
Single source stories
Baseless predictions from basic science
FDA approval treated as a fait accompli
Little coverage of health policy
No time for enterprise
