Medical Reporting

Medical Reporting

Summer 2003: Medical Reporting Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

“The chasm between medical journalists and physicians appears mostly to be one of ignorance rather than conflicting interests or malice,” writes Terry L. Schraeder, who for 10 years worked as a medical journalist before entering medical school. Now doing her residency in internal medicine, she uses these experiences to highlight the problems between journalists and doctors and ways to close the widening gap of distrust. She is convinced that only when they “understand the other’s professional training, education, deadlines, responsibilities, codes of ethics, and internal stresses” will the chasm narrow. – Melissa Ludtke, Editor Read more

A Chasm of Distrust in Medical Reporting

By Terry L. Schraeder• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

A doctor who was a medical journalist tries to understand why journalists don’t trust their sources and sources don’t trust reporters. Read more

Breaking the Medical Malpractice Code of Secrecy

By Stephen Kiernan• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

At The Burlington Free Press, a reporter persists in unearthing stories that doctors don’t want told. Read more

Using Technology to Uncover Medical Stories

By Chris Adams• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

With computer-assisted reporting: Think small and big. Read more

Mental Illness: Reporting on Maine’s Most Vulnerable Children

By Barbara Walsh• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

Doctors and social workers said she’d ‘never be able to tell the story.’ She did. Read more

Investigating What Goes Wrong in Medicine

By Paul Lieberman• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

After 30 years of doing this, a reporter passes along lessons—some serious, some not so serious. Read more

Portraits of the Living With the Dead

By Meryl Levin• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

A photographer documents the transition from medical student to physician. Read more

Is Stem Cell Reporting Telling the Real Story?

By Neil Munro• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

A journalist says that media coverage of stem cells and cloning is repeating the mistakes the press made during the dot-com bubble. Read more

Reporting the Cloning Story: From Hype to Healthy Skepticism

By Aaron Zitner• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

Journalists can produce stronger stories by scrutinizing the motives, finances and personalities of researchers. Read more

Transforming Medical Science Into Public Policy

By Barbara Egbert• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

An editorial writer describes her role in helping readers understand the issues. Read more

Covering Ethical Debates About Medical Issues

By Kathleen Rutledge• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

Journalists in Nebraska played a role in informing people about the complexities of the science and ethics of medical research. Read more

Digging Beneath What Is Said to Be the Truth

By Philip J. Hilts• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

‘It puts the journalist in the position of challenging the source directly, a position no reporter or editor finds comfortable.’ Read more

Acting as Watchdog on Cancer Research

By Paul Goldberg• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

A small newsletter can create big waves with its long and complicated stories. Read more

The Emotional Toll of Reporting on a Cancer Trial

By Jenni Laidman• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

‘I’d essentially planned to do a story about dying people with no real hope of a cure acting as guinea pigs.’ Read more

‘Living With Cancer’

By Lois Wilson• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

A newspaper links forces with TV and radio to inform the community about the causes and consequences of this disease. Read more

Weighing Anecdotal Evidence Against the Studies

By Diana Campbell• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

A reporter explores connections between increased rates of cancer and the changing lifestyle of Alaska Natives. Read more

Documenting Native Approaches to Wellness

By Mary Annette Pember• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

With images and words, a journalist tells the story of a tribe’s effort to prevent and control Type II diabetes. Read more

Constraints on China’s Coverage of SARS

By Philip J. Cunningham• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

For a variety of reasons, neither the government nor the press handled the medical crisis well. Read more

Medical Reporting In a Highly Commercialized Environment

By John Abramson• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

A family doctor prescribes eight guiding principles for accurate and fair coverage of research findings. Read more

A Hard Look Finds a Network Script Fades to Blah

By Mervin Block• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

A journalist tracks where and how a medical story began and how its content came to be exaggerated. Read more

Tips for Writing Medical News

Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

Never use the word “miracle.” Leave that to ministers, mayonnaise-makers and sports-writers. Don’t use “breakthrough.” Breakthroughs are infrequent and this word, like controversy, is so overused that it has lost much of its impact. And “major breakthrough” is redundant.  Avoid … Read more

A Doctor Examines a Journalist’s Work

By Perri Klass• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

As she moves between being a doctor and a medical journalist, loyalties are divided. Read more

Critical Tools for Medical Reporting

By Ragnar Levi• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

A medical editor’s book provides advice and guidance for journalists. Read more

Helping Reporters Play the Medical Numbers Game

By Lewis Cope• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

A journalist reminds us about how tricky putting ‘facts’ into perspective can be. Read more

What makes a good medical reporter?

By Council for the Advancement of Science Writing• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

The late Victor Cohn, a former science editor of The Washington Post, said: “A good medical reporter is, first of all, a reporter after a story, not just a medical story but an interesting and important story. A good medical … Read more

Learning To Be a Medical Journalist

By Thomas Linden• Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

‘If you already are a skilled reporter and writer, the transition to medical journalism should be relatively easy.’ Read more

Medical Journalism Training

Journalist’s Trade• June 15, 2003

Medical Journalism Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Journalism and Mass Communication. As one of the nation’s first master’s programs in medical journalism, the two-year experience emphasizes writing skills for print and broadcast media. Read more