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Columbia Journalism Review content tagged medicine

1. February 10, 2012 04:55 PM

   “Economy Class Syndrome” Debunked

   Personal blood-clot narrative makes for bad science writing in Washington Post

   By Curtis Brainard

   Telling a first-person story about a health problem is a popular frame in medical writing, and it can be effective as long as the author adheres to the principles of high quality, evidence-based reporting. An article on the front page of The Washington Post’s Health section in mid-January demonstrated how the personal narrative can go very wrong, however. In the...

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2. June 14, 2012 03:00 PM

   Covering the animal within

   Zoobiquity promotion belies activity in comparative medicine

   By Curtis Brainard

   The promo machine for an upcoming book, Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing, by UCLA cardiologist Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and science writer Kathryn Bowers, has been in high gear all week. It started with a 4,100-word excerpt in The New York Times Sunday Review, and continued with spots on NPR and ABC News. The...

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3. January 13, 2012 12:00 PM

   Critical Juncture for HuffPo Science

   With new section, David Freeman has an opportunity to raise the bar

   By Curtis Brainard

   The Huffington Post’s announcement last week that it had launched a new section intended to be a “one-stop shop for the latest scientific news and opinion” incited a flurry of circumspect commentary about whether or not the site was turning over “a new leaf” in science coverage. Over the years, The Huffington Post has drawn widespread criticism for publishing misleading...

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4. November 12, 2012 03:00 PM

   Take a beat

   Media pump too much news from heart association meeting, critic says

   By Curtis Brainard

   More than 10,000 stories came out of the annual meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA), which took place in Los Angeles last week, but it was the media’s ticker that was beating too fast and too hard, according to the media criticism website HealthNewsReview.org. The cardiac confab is always a big draw for journalists, and as with other scientific...

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5. October 9, 2012 11:00 AM

   The value of skepticism

   Why science reporters should question research

   By Curtis Brainard

   Skepticism has earned a bad name in recent years thanks to those who doubt the consensus that human industry is a significant driver of global climate change. But it’s important to remember that healthy skepticism is a key tenet of the scientific profession, and central to the quality control of research. Two papers published in the PLOS family of journals...

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