Gary Schwitzer

Even when stories get the facts right, they often fail to provide crucial context and caveats that would help audiences make sense of the news — or lack thereof.

Between recent reports of industry-funded research and industry-funded journalism workshops, it feels like a sophisticated campaign by the alcohol industry to sway public opinion is underway, writes HNR's Gary Schwitzer.

"I don’t think we talk often enough about why it matters if health care industry entities are allowed to advertise within, or sponsor, health care journalism content," writes HealthNewsReview's Gary Schwitzer.

The ACA has become a scapegoat in the media for all kinds of health care woes. "Somebody needs to be the referee on some of the cheap shots flying around on an uneven playing field," says Health News Review's Gary Schwitzer.

The harm from misleading media messages about health care is very real. But by putting a human face and voice to these harms, we can begin to correct some of these wrongs, explains HealthNewsReview.org's Gary Schwitzer.

An editor for the BMJ blogged about "How medical journals can help stop disease-mongering." And one of her ideas was a quarantine for "groundbreaking studies about new treatments."

“Between the Lines: Finding the Truth in Medical Literature,” by Marya Zilberberg, MD, MPH, and “The Patient Paradox: Why sexed-up medicine is bad for your health,” by Margaret McCartney, MD, are two books to add your reading list.

The top trending health news story so far this week is that of the Mississippi baby pronounced “functionally cured” of HIV infection.

The Federation of Journalists in Spain reports 4,000 layoffs and 70 news organization closures in 2012 alone. Cutbacks have affected biomedical journalists. Read some international perspectives from Spain, Germany, the UK and the US.

Some problems can arise when journalists report on their own health care. But first-person health care stories, when done right, can deliver a valuable public service.