J-Topics

Consumer behavior in North America indicates a growing number of people think gluten is bad for their guts. Meanwhile, journalists are baking up stories and scientists are still digesting the biology.

Apr 03, 2012 - Posted by Meredith Levine

As he watched a large proportion of friends and family forsake flour for spelt bread and rice crackers, Western University, MAJ student, Jacob Kuehn, grew suspicious of media coverage of the gluten free dietary phenomenon. He decided to take a closer look at the science behind gluten sensitivity, and why the media may be missing it.

New Editor for Canadian Medical Association Journal Announced Two Days After Interim Editor Posts Controversial OP-ED

Jan 21, 2012 - Posted by Meredith Levine

Five things every journalist should understand about the Canadian health care system

Jan 17, 2012 - Posted by Meredith Levine

Health care has gotten a lot media coverage in the last few weeks. Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a new funding formula and most provincial leaders are opposed to his plans. Covering health policy is tough for any general assignment reporter; it’s complex and confusing. In the launch of J-Source's Health & Medical Journalism section, Dr. Gordon Guyatt, co-developer of evidence-based medicine and an advocate of public health care, offers journalists some evidence-based arguments on five key issues.

Ottawa Public Health, the media, and the latest infection scare

Oct 26, 2011 - Posted by Lauren McKeon

In a hastily organized media conference mid-October, Ottawa’s chief medical officer of health announced a local, privately owned “non-hospital” clinic flunked proper infection control measures, resulting in the potential exposure of thousands to Hepatitis and HIV. Carleton University's Josh Greenberg on the resulting brouhaha. This post originally appeared on PR Conversations, and is reprinted with permission.

War in the Mind: A Review

Jun 10, 2011 - Posted by Claude Adams

Judy Jackson's new documentary on war-related trauma, War in the Mind, will be aired on TVO next month. The Salt Spring Island filmmaker, who's had her own experience with PTSD, looks at a unique UBC program for Canadian soldiers who served in Afghanistan, and returned with serious trauma issues. A review by Claude Adams.

Finally, help for science journalists

Dec 08, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray

SMCC When it comes to science stories, overworked reporters often resort to rounding up quotes from duelling experts, writes Peter Calamai. Enter the recently launched Science Media Centre of Canada, which will arm journalists with information and help them cover stories with science content.

Science journalism in a connected future

Dec 04, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray

David Secko Public health officials, academics and researchers joined journalists including documentary producer Ira Basen, the Vancouver Sun's Kirk LaPointe, Canwest News Service’s Margaret Munro at a recent conference at the University of British Columbia that asked "how and where the science journalists of tomorrow will work." Concordia University assistant professor David Secko captured some of the highlights.

Allergic Living editor confronts Chatelaine article

Nov 11, 2009 - Posted by Janice Paskey

The allergy fur is flying. In an opinion column published on CBC’s national website, Gwen Smith, editor of Allergic Living magazine, refutes a Chatelaine article written by Patricia Pearson. Pearson's "It’s just nuts," first ran in the December 2009 print issue of and is now online. "In Canada, getting taken down in Chatelaine is as close as it gets to being kneecapped by Oprah," Smith contends in...

Is the media going overboard with H1N1 coverage? The National hosts a panel

Nov 09, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray

Wendy Mesley recently hosted a panel discussion on The National about how the media handled coverage of H1N1. Watch the full video or read brief excerpts here.

Pregnant women, pandemics and politics

Oct 29, 2009 - Posted by Maija Saari

Susan Delacourt from the Toronto Star covers a bizarre bout of heckling and laughter Tuesday in the House of Commons as Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett (a physician and former public health minister) attempted to raise a question about H1N1 vaccine.

What Delacourt describes as mocking derision from the Tory benches prevented Bennett from completing a question regarding risk of exposure to adjuvants within the vaccine for pregnant women.

"This isn't funny," shouts a grimacing Bennett in a video uploaded by the Liberals on You Tube. (A longer version with the full question was uploaded here)

The incident can be found spinning through the blogs at Impolitical, Dr. Dawg and Broadsides (Antonia Zerbisias, Warren Kinsella, and online news fora at CBC, Macleans and the Globe and Mail.

Health and Medical Journalism

edited by MEREDITH LEVINE

This section looks at how the media covers health and medical issues and debates. It also provides tools for journalists to better evaluate health and medical research, practice and policy.

Meredith Levine is a lecturer at University of Western Ontario, after having worked as a producer at CBC National Radio Current Affairs for over a decade. Her research focuses primarily on journalism ethics, health care ethics, patient preferences and values, and communication and disability.