Hospital Flacks Spread Fake News

[marmar]

from In These Times:



Hospital Flacks Spread Fake News
By Emily Udell



When Glen Mabie’s boss at WEAU-TV-13 told him he would have to start running stories suggested by a local hospital, featuring its staff and services, Mabie quit in protest.

The agreement with the hospital would have prevented the Eau Claire, Wis., station from using sources from other area hospitals in its stories.

“I was between a rock and a hard place,” says Mabie, who had been news director at the NBC affiliate for a year. “I didn’t want to be insubordinate to my superior and there was no way I could go into the newsroom and tell my staff this is a good thing.”

WEAU ultimately scratched the plan after newsroom employees continued to resist it in the wake of Mabie’s January resignation, he says.

The deal at WEAU was one of several that prompted the Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Health Care Journalists to announce their opposition to the practice of broadcasting, printing or otherwise disseminating content paid for, or created by, medical providers.

“Content produced by hospitals does not fulfill the duty of news organizations to provide the public with independent medical reporting,” the Aug. 13 statement from the two groups said. “Ethical problems are compounded when media outlets fail to adequately disclose the source of the content, misleading viewers, listeners or readers into thinking it is legitimate news.” ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3910/hospital_flacks_spread_fake_news/