Media ethics & the public health care discussion

In just 5 days, we've blogged about 3 distinct media ethics issues - all potential threats to a well-informed public discussion on health care and health care policy.

• An egregious health care hoax perpetrated on a radio call-in show hosted by someone who likes to be called "The Great One" and then spread across the U.S.

• The FCC is now considering new regulation of "pay-for-play" TV news - which often occurs with conflicted health care stories. But do the proposed regs go far enough?

• An ethically-challenged newspaper example of sponsored health care news. Are we seeing the start of a mini-trend of retired journalists becoming paid health care industry promoters?

We invite journalists anywhere to report on such cases whenever and wherever they see them.

Or, if that puts you in an uncomfortable situation, write to me - I'll do it. (feedback@healthnewsreview.org)

I taught media ethics for 9 years at the University of Minnesota. We're collecting a whole new syllabus full of case studies.