Medicine and the media: Medical experts’ problems and solutions while working with journalists
Autoři:
Anna Larsson aff001; Susanna Appel aff002; Carl Johan Sundberg aff003; Mårten Rosenqvist aff001
Působiště autorů:
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Science, Danderyd University Hospital, Danderyd, Sweden
aff001; KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Science for Life Laboratory, Solna, Sweden
aff002; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
aff003; Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
aff004
Vyšlo v časopise:
PLoS ONE 14(9)
Kategorie:
Research Article
doi:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220897
Souhrn
Medical experts are one of the main sources used by journalists in reporting on medical science. This study aims to 1) identify problems that medical experts encounter in contacts with the media representatives, 2) elucidate their attitudes about interactions with journalists and 3) reflect on solutions that could improve the quality of medical journalism.
By using in-depth interviews, focus groups and a survey directed to 600 medical experts in 21 countries, this cohort study elucidates medical experts’ experiences and views on participating in popular media. A strong interest in interacting with the media was identified among the experts, where nearly one fifth of the respondents in the survey claimed that they contacted the media more than 10 times per year. Six obstacles for improving the quality of medical reporting in the media were found: deadlines, headlines, choice of topic or angle, journalist’s level of medical knowledge, differences in professional culture and colleagues’ opinions.
The main concern among experts was that short deadlines and exaggerated headlines could harm journalistic quality. It is possible that this is partly due to ongoing changes in the media landscape with many new platforms and less control functions. Nevertheless, for several reasons many experts have great interest in interacting with the media, something that could contribute to better communication and fewer misunderstandings.
Our results highlight factors like expert networks, media training for scientists and regular meetings that may facilitate communication between medical experts and medical reporters.
Klíčová slova:
Medicine and health sciences – Medical humanities – Medical journals – Health care – Health care policy – Science policy – Science and technology workforce – Careers in research – Scientists – People and places – Population groupings – Professions – Social sciences – Sociology – Communications – Mass media – Journalism – Research and analysis methods – Scientific publishing – Research design – Survey research – Surveys – Computer and information sciences – Computer networks – Internet
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Článek vyšel v časopise
PLOS One
2019 Číslo 9
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