The NPF Newsbag

New Hope/No Hope, Or Somewhere in the Middle

PARIS: The late, great science writer Victor Cohn of The Washington Post used to say that most published health journalism fell into one of two categories -- new hope, or no hope. "Breakthrough," "miracle," "scientists now say ... are confused ... shake their heads," etc. are the terms of art we've all used. The problem is, life is a lot more complex than a headline, and this is never more true than with a new HIV vaccine study, just released.

Reporting on Swine Flu?

If you're reporting on the Swine Flu issue, we'd like you to know about some resources we've developed over time.   Go to our website, and enter the single word, "flu," in the search box. It will take you to a wide variety of resources and information -- including safety tips -- for journalists.  

Autism Research Available Through NPF Site

An article in the Science section of the New York Times on January 13, 2009, here, focuses on a book by pediatrician Paul A. Offitt, M.D.,  called "Autism's False Prophets." In it, the article says, he defends the use of vaccines with small children, and denies on the basis of scientific studies, the idea that vaccines cause autism. For his efforts he's had death threats.