Making a Pig’s Breakfast of Research ReportingMay 15, 2019 |
On the morning of April 17th, 2019, fear of bacon filled the media: “Even moderate intake of red meat raises cancer risk, study finds” (Guardian); “A rasher of bacon a day ‘ups cancer risk’” (BBC) “Two rashers of bacon a day raises bowel cancer risk by a fifth” (Sky); “ANY amount of ham, bacon and red meat ‘increases bowel cancer risk’” (Wales Online); “Killer Full English: Bacon Ups Cancer Risk” (LBC). All these headlines concerned a study that found new evidence that processed meat increases the risk of bowel cancer.
The headline statistic of a 20% increase in risk was repeated in dozens of newspapers and on most radio news shows and TV bulletins. Yet an actual explanation of what the 20% means was almost entirely lacking, even when the researchers were interviewed directly on Radio 4. Most coverage simply stated that those who ate higher amounts of processed meat were 20% more likely to get bowel cancer than those who ate low amounts of meat. This is technically correct, but woefully uninformative, for two reasons.
…Continue reading ‘Making a pig’s breakfast of research reporting’
Image via Flickr 
Some rights reserved by shawnzam
Tags: accuracy, bioethics, fact, increase, journalism, media, obligation, perception, public, relative risk, risk, science writing
