Herbal supplements in the print media: communicating benefits and risks.

BACKGROUND: The rise in use of food supplements based on botanical ingredients (herbal supplements) is depicted as part of a trend empowering consumers to manage their day-to-day health needs, which presupposes access to clear and accurate information to make effective choices. Evidence regarding herbal supplement efficacy is extremely variable so recent regulations eliminating unsubstantiated claims about potential effects leave producers able to provide very little information about their products. Medical practitioners are rarely educated about herbal supplements and most users learn about them via word-of-mouth, allowing dangerous misconceptions to thrive, chief among them the assumption that natural products are inherently safe. Print media is prolific among the information channels still able to freely discuss herbal supplements. METHOD: This study thematically analyses how 76 newspaper/magazine articles from the UK, Romania and Italy portray the potential risks and benefits of herbal supplements. RESULTS: Most articles referenced both risks and benefits and were factually accurate but often lacked context and impartiality. More telling was how the risks and benefits were framed in service of a chosen narrative, the paucity of authoritative information allowing journalists leeway to recontextualise herbal supplements in ways that serviced the goals and values of their specific publications and readerships. CONCLUSION: Providing sufficient information to empower consumers should not be the responsibility of print media, instead an accessible source of objective information is required.

Medical reporting recommendations: a gap between practical and theoretical approach of journalists in Italy.

OBJECTIVE: This survey involved medical reporters to identify degrees of theoretical and actual compliance to recommendations for health reporting. METHODS: The questionnaire was addressed to 450 Italian journalists and obtained a redemption of 23.1%. RESULTS: Major gaps between theoretical agreement and professional practice were: need of scientific background and continuing education; importance of avoiding sensationalism, assessment of scientific protocols and results, reporting of results as absolute risk and numbers needed to treat, attention to the conflict of interest. Two homogeneous profiles emerged. Group 1 includes journalists working in newspapers and shows a large gap between theory and practice. Group 2 includes mainly journalists working in technical medical media and shows a higher consistency between the two settings. DISCUSSION: An improvement in theoretical understanding of medical literature is advisable, but interventions are needed in the working practice in particular in newspapers, a setting where approaches are more difficult.