The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Climate change and dangerous looters in D.C.; doctors who dare to work with medical device companies; and more on those "evil" drug firms.

Sept. 28, 2005

     The Good and Ugly of The Washington Post show both sides of that paper’s weekly efforts. CBS’s “Early Show” was on time with accurate global warming coverage and the Post proved even the liberal media can call for fiscal sanity. Both the Bad and Ugly show how major newspapers continue to demonize the medical industry.

The Good
     1) At a time when even Barbra Streisand is weighing in to claim a link between hurricanes and global warming, it’s good to see a rational report on the topic. As first reported in the Media Research Center’s Cyberalert September 23, CBS’s “The Early Show” “featured a scientist who ‘says hurricane activity comes in cycles that can last several decades. It seems Mother Nature has mood swings.’”

     The cyclical nature of hurricanes has even drawn the attention of The New York Times, but reporters continue to link hurricanes and climate change. It’s good to see people like CBS's Russ Mitchell who get it right.

     2) While it wasn’t part of the news pages, The Washington Post deserves huge credit for its Sept. 27, 2005, editorial on “Louisiana’s Looters.” The Post wasn’t criticizing thefts that might have occurred right after the storm – it was lambasting the Louisiana congressional delegation for trying to fleece the entire nation. “The state’s representatives have come up with a request for $250 billion in federal reconstruction funds for Louisiana alone – more than $50,000 per person in the state,” stated the editorial.

     The Post deserves credit for urging Congress and the president to ignore the bill entirely and not “accept the $250 billion as a starting point.” It’s great to see support for fiscal sanity from the press.

The Bad
     Doctors are evil, especially those talented enough that they work with manufacturers to come up with new medical devices. That was the conclusion of the Sept. 22, 2005, New York Times story about doctors shrouded in “secrecy” and the hospitals that complain about them.

     The Times piece blamed doctors for increased costs of medical devices but left out other obvious reasons, such as lawsuits. The story also didn’t include patients who had benefited from the allegedly overpriced equipment. It was if the staff at the Times were entirely ignorant of how businesses operate.
 

The Ugly
     Not to be left out of the health care industry bashing, the Post went after drug makers when it reported on the results of a new study of schizophrenia treatment.

     The September 20 story, written by Shankar Vendantam, said it “underscores the extent to which physicians, patients and policymakers can be blindsided by self-interested research by drugmakers.” In fact, what the Post reported diverged a lot from the truth and, contrary to Vendantam’s claims, the more expensive drug actually performed far better than the older one studied.

     On the other hand, the Associated Press cited Columbia University researcher Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman’s positive assessment of the drugs. Lieberman, who led the study, said “Make no mistake, these treatments are effective and far better than no treatment at all.”

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly tracks the best and worst media coverage of business and economics. Readers are invited to submit suggestions or news tips to Director Dan Gainor at dgainor@mediaresearch.org.