Medical news for the public to use? What's on local TV news.

BACKGROUND: Local television news is the number 1 source of information for most Americans, and media health reporting has increased significantly during the past 10 years. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the health topics and reporting characteristics of health stories on local television news across the United States. STUDY DESIGN: Content analysis of full-length broadcasts of local television news from a representative sample of the top 50 US media markets (122 stations). METHODS: Two trained coders evaluated all health stories for topics and reporting characteristics. Any discrepancies were resolved by a third independent coder. RESULTS: Among 2795 broadcasts reviewed, 1799 health stories were aired. Seventy-six percent of all stories were about medical conditions. The median story airtime was 33 seconds. Breast cancer and West Nile virus were the 2 most common topics reported on. Among 1371 stories about disease, few gave recommendations, cited specific data sources, or discussed prevalence. Egregious errors were identified that could harm viewers who relied on the information. CONCLUSIONS: Local television news devotes significant airtime to health stories, yet few newscasts provide useful information, and some stories with factually incorrect information and potentially dangerous advice were aired. Regularly reaching 165 million people, local television news has the power to provide health information to most Americans. It is crucial that television reporting of health news be improved and that reporting errors be eliminated.