Do the print media help the medical science? An analysis of forensic related contents in newspaper articles

General public get a considerable amount of information about medical science related topics from the media. Communicating with the public through the media can be vexing for medical professionals because they lack direct control over the final reporting1.It is the reporter's view of the information and his or her words that reach the public, rather than the scientist's or the clinician's. Moreover, there is a mismatch between the expectations of the scientist and those of the reporter. Scientists expect journalists to share their concern with scientific norms relating to the provisional nature of scientific knowledge and recognition of the collegial nature of scientific endeavour2. However subspecialty such as in forensics there are diverse concerns about published material in the print media. Issues are more or less the same in other specialties as well.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljfmsl.v3i1.4946

Sri Lanka Journal of Forensic Medicine, Science & Law-May 2012-Vol.3 No.1 pp.10-12