"Science journalists need to get a grip on reality. They need to develop a better appreciation of how science works. All too often they are content to just copy from a press release without any critical analysis. They commonly confuse correlation with causation and make recommendations not justified by the data. They may report preliminary studies as if they were proven facts. Enthusiastic predictions based on preliminary research may raise hopes for new treatments, but all too often those hopes turn out to be false. Not exactly 'fake news' but surely misleading. It’s fun to speculate, but it’s not reasonable to ask people to take medicines or change their diet or lifestyle based on untested speculations."
One does not have to look far to see "clickbait" using such teasers as "Breaking News" or "Scientists find Amazing (Something)." While such sensationalism does not seem harmful if it is not talking about a drug or a medical procedure, such media reporting tends to prime the public to make more out of preliminary findings in medicine than they should. Click on the link below for five examples of premature press releases/media reports of scientific studies:
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