A look at the news media and medical publishing realms in the time of COVID-19, with information and resources for finding and evaluating information. Presented 2/12/21 to the Metropolitan Detroit Medical Library Group

1. Reputable Sources in a Pandemic:
How to Find Information You Can
Feel Good About Sharing
Kara Gavin, M.S.
Michigan Medicine Department of Communication

2. Who am I?
• Michigan Medicine Department of Communication
• U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation
communication team
• Trained in biology, science writing & journalism
• 25+ years’ experience communicating about research
at U-M & Brookhaven National Lab

3. • Find & tell stories
• Handle news media inquiries
• Push stories & info out any way I can
• Blogs, newsletters, social media, etc
• Help researchers understand & use social media
What do I do?

4. Why does U-M* have staff like me?
• Our institution’s work should reach beyond academia
• U-M expertise can have impact on the world
• Taxpayers & policymakers who fund research
deserve to know what they’re paying for
• Most Americans need science/medicine translated
• It’s easier than ever
*and lots of other places too *and lots of other places too

5. For 200 years…
• Information flowed to the
public from official
sources via gatekeepers:
• News media
• Entertainment industry
• Book publishers
• Educators
• Librarians
• Journalists as the ‘fourth
estate’ of society
• Academic research
& PR since WWII

6. A New
Era
The traditional
news media’s
gatekeeper role &
business model
are eroding
Social &
crowdsourced
platforms, and
search engines,
have the power

7. Everyone
can be a
publisher.

8. The tools are in our pockets.

9. But…
The “old guard” news media & their newer
cousins still create or influence much of the
content shared on these platforms.
Though staffs are smaller, they still use the
journalistic information-gathering approach.
Institutions (universities, governments,
nonprofits) have become publishers, too.

10. COVID-19 has shown the best
& worst of these platforms
• Speed of dissemination & reaction
• Accessibility & share-ability
• Impact of visuals & video
• Little or no cost to produce or consume information
• Expertise vs. opinion vs. deliberate misinformation
• Ability to spur action – or outrage
• Shouting works – but whispers can be amplified

11. Falsehood flies,
and the Truth
comes limping
after it…
- Jonathan Swift, 1710

12. So what can we do?
• Use these platforms and our information-finding
expertise to find & share the best information
• Use our influence in our own circles
• Speak up when we see questionable things shared
– appeal to the “silent viewer”
• Remind people that in an evolving situation,
certainty is in short supply
• Demand transparency and accuracy

13. The news media have
long used this model!
“If your mother
says she loves
you, check it
out.”

14. The news media’s goals
•Serve the public interest
•Inform their outlet’s target audience and
hold their attention
•Be first, best or most compelling
•Operate within medium’s constraints
•Build audience
•Sell advertising (often based on clicks)

15. The rise of the fact-checkers

16. The rise of the independent
scientific voice on social media
• Twitter: Verified (blue checkmark) accounts from virologists,
epidemiologists, health journalists and COVID-19 clinicians
• Tom Frieden, Megan Ranney, Eric Feigl-Ding, Craig Spencer, Peter
Hotez, Andy Slavitt, Ellie Murray, Paul Offit, Eric Topol, Angela
Rasmussen, Leana Wen, Scott Gottlieb
• Laurie Garrett, Helen Branswell, Tara Haelle, Lena Sun, Julia
Belluz, Andre Picard, Kai Kupferschmidt, Maryn McKenna
• Facebook: Your Local Epidemiologist, Friendly Neighbor
Epidemiologist, Dear Pandemic, Michiganders Surviving
COVID-19 Together group

17. michiganhealthlab.org
michiganhealthblog.org
“Brand journalism”
• Our own news organization
• Sharing cutting-edge research news &
clinical stories
• Aimed at professionals & public
• Jump on timely news topics quickly
• Shared on web, social media and email
• Optimized for search engine visibility

18. Some of my COVID-19 tactics
• Start with the sources that may not have the loudest voices or
showiest graphics, but have the longest and best reputations:
• CDC, FDA and HHS
• WHO
• State and county health departments
• Major research universities and teaching hospitals
• Individual scientists & clinicians affiliated with reputable organizations
• Research published in peer-reviewed major journals
• Official reports and data sources – Our World in Data
• Major media organizations

20. Good sources in Michigan
• Detroit Free Press and Detroit News
• Bridge Michigan
• Michigan Radio and other public radio
• Crain’s Detroit
• MLive’s statewide coverage
• WDIV COVID data site

21. If you want high-quality news….
Pay for it!

22. News? Analysis? Opinion? Satire? Ad?
• Traditional dividing line: news side and opinion side
• Clear labeling of news analysis vs. opinion pieces
• Official editorials: joint opinion of opinion page editors & writers
• Guest vs. staff columnists – read their bio
• Paid “advertorials”
• Satirical sites
• The Onion, Babylon Bee, ClickHole, Borowitz Report

23. Be a savvy science news consumer
• Science changes. That’s
what it’s designed to do.
• “Better safe than sorry” is
a time-honored saying for
a reason
• Speed isn’t always a
virtue, especially in
science
• Double check before you
share something

24. Preprints & “science by press release”
Do
research
Compile
results
Give talks
or posters
Write
papers
Get peer-
reviewed
Make
changes
Get
published
Maybe
publicity
Traditional medical & scientific process
Do
research
Compile
results
Write a
preprint
Post to
server
Get peer-
reviewed
Make
changes
Get
published
Seek
publicity
Accelerated/altered path since COVID-19
Journalists or
social media users
Press release
but little data
“Raw” version
online
Occasional
publicity

25. Other things to consider
• What journal is it in?
• JAMA family
• NEJM
• Lancet
• BMJ
• Science
• Nature
• Annals of Internal Medicine
• Or lesser-known ones?
• What are “MedTwitter” users
saying about it?
• Check Altmetrics or
PlumMetrics to see
• Have there been
retractions, letters in
response, or corrections?
• RetractionWatch blog
• PubMed retraction alerts
• Letters and comments

26. Questions to ask before sharing
• Have I ever heard of the website or organization?
• How up-to-date is it?
• Does it link to a primary source?
• Who wrote/created it, and what do I know about them?
• Can I find it on another site through a quick internet search?
• If it’s about a study, who did it/paid for it, how was it done &
published?
• Who’s quoted, or credited as source? (Could they stand to benefit?)
• Does it contain any notes of caution or caveats?
• If the claim is especially outrageous, can you fact-check it?

27. The CRAAP Test
• Currency – How recent/updated, working links?
• Relevance – Does it rise above other sources?
• Authority – Credentials, contact info, URL
• Accuracy – How reliable & straightforward is it?
• Purpose – Why is it there? Is it opinion or impartial
or propaganda? Are there noticeable biases?
California State University-Chico

28. What to look for in reporting on
biomedical studies
• If the research was done in animals,
cells or computer models
• If it used data from populations or
past patients (not actual testing)
• If it tested a drug, device or
intervention in people:
• how many people and who were they
• what phase of testing (I through IV)
• where it stands in the FDA process
• what it costs or if insurance covers
• what else is available & how well it works
• the size of the effect it had & any problems

29. Don’t confuse correlation with
causation!
Observational
studies can never
correct for every
factor – so they
can’t show cause &
effect.

30. Clinical tests and trials:
Relative vs. Absolute Risk Reduction
•50% reduction in risk of X!
(relative risk)
• ABSOLUTE risk:
• The risk of X in this population fell from 2% to 1%.
• The risk of X dropped 1 percentage point.
• 1 less person in every 100 will experience X if they do Y.
• Stories/studies should include both. Or just absolute RR.
• They should express both benefits & harms in the same way.

31. Danger Words
• breakthrough
• could become the new standard of care
• cure
• first-of-its-kind
• game-changer
• Holy Grail
• magic/miracle
• simple blood test
• this might/may/could lead to… (without
immediately saying what it will take to…)

32. Don’t be afraid to engage!
• Social platforms have ways to
flag potentially questionable
content and abusive users –
use them!
• Liking and sharing enhances the
performance of good content in
the social sites’ algorithms
• Blocking and muting can keep
bad actors out of your feed
• Wikipedia needs editors –
especially female & older ones!

33. Things are moving fast.
There is deliberate misinformation.
We hold the key to sharing the good
and stopping the bad.