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Australia’s media reporting of health and medical matters: a question of quality

Martin B Van Der Weyden and Ruth M Armstrong
Med J Aust 2005; 183 (4): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06991.x
Published online: 15 August 2005

Reporting medical news entails a special responsibility

The fundamental question in medical journalism is how best to identify, process and report legitimate medical information to the general public . . . The process . . . is far more haphazard and idiosyncratic than outsiders might ever imagine.1


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  • 9. Sweet M. Website gives media the tough treatment. BMJ 2004; 329: 178.
  • 10. Schwartz LM, Woloshin S. The media matter: a call for straightforward medical reporting. Ann Intern Med 2004; 140: 226-228.
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  • 12. Howard RJ. Getting it right in prime time: tools and strategies for media interaction. Emerg Infect Dis 2000; 6: 426-427.

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