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Gary Schwitzer on Muck Rack

Gary Schwitzer

  • Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Minnesota School of Public Health
Minneapolis, Saint Paul
As seen in: Substack, Taylor & Francis Online, The BMJ, JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association), JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, The Active Surveillor, MedPage Today, Duluth News Tribune, KevinMD.com, HometownSource and
Covers:  consumer health news, health policy, health care news, health care journalism, medical journalism, health journalism, health, health care, journalism ethics, public health
Health care journalist for 50 yrs. Publisher of HealthNewsReview site, which had a great 16-year run. Now retired but hard to tell from my Substack output.

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Gary Schwitzer’s Biography

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Gary Schwitzer specialized in health care journalism for 50 years in radio, television, interactive multimedia and the Internet.

He was the founder and publisher of HealthNewsReview.org from 2006-2022, once leading a team that grew to 50 people who:

  • evaluated and graded daily health news reporting by major U.S. news organizations.
    evaluated and graded health care news releases from many sources – government agencies, medical journals, industry, academic medical centers, etc.
  • produced a toolki…

Gary Schwitzer’s Journalist Portfolio

Communicating Science in the Time of a Pandemic

Communicating Science in the Time of a Pandemic

Races are underway in parallel: to find answers to perplexing coronavirus questions, to announce research fin…

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Why Bolstering Trust in Journalism Could Help Strengthen Trust in Medicine

Why Bolstering Trust in Journalism Could Help Strengthen Trust in Medicine

Given the many trust issues in today’s information ecosystem, medicine and media need to work together to mak…

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Pollution of health news: Time to drain the swamp

Pollution of health news: Time to drain the swamp

Health news that is fake, sloppy, inaccurate, imbalanced, or incomplete threatens public health, public polic…

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6th time I've called out BMJ news releases on observational studies

6th time I've called out BMJ news releases on observational studies

I do not enjoy this - repeatedly calling out The BMJ for its misleading news releases on observational studie…

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A Guide to Reading Health Care News Stories

A Guide to Reading Health Care News Stories

After 7 years and 1889 stories reviewed by HealthNewsReview.org (approximately 43% newspaper articles, 30% wi…

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Articles

Here's an intelligent AI chatbot you'll want to check out

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By Gary Schwitzer
| Substack
Have you ever searched for an answer using artificial intelligence, but the response left you wondering about the validity of the information? I think I’ve found a better method. My regular readers know that I’m fond of the NewsGuard Reality Check service, which I’ve linked to quite often. The company is led by Steven Brill, who founded The American Lawyer, Court TV, and the Yale Journalism Initiative - and by Gordon Crovitz, former publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

One can of soda raises your risk of stomach cancer? Here we go again.

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By Gary Schwitzer
| Substack
Another day, another round of flawed journalism about an observational study, which cannot prove cause-and-effect. USA Today reported: “Associated with” in the headline is correct. The study pointed to a statistical association between soda consumption and stomach cancer. But the story talked about “risk increase.” That’s a statement of cause-and-effect - a statement that soda consumption increased risk. This study didn’t prove that.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

3 minutes to cut risk of 13 cancers? A wee bit of overstatement here.

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By Gary Schwitzer
| Substack
This is a review predominantly about the journalism involved in a story like this - not so much about the study that was the subject of the news. The Washington Post reported: The story began by over-reaching with this: To reduce your risks for at least 13 types of cancer, jog up and down the nearest steps for three minutes or stand up fromyour desk or couch for 30. That sentence frames and promotes risk reduction as if this study proved it. It didn’t.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
See all 422 licensed articles (424 Total)

Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

WTMJ AM-FM-TV, Milwaukee, writer and film editor

Have you ever used a typewriter?

Yes & I've edited film with hot glue splices. Also manually edited audio tape. But content and ethical journalism matter more than tools.

Who's your favorite fictional journalist?

Actor Albert Brooks playing Aaron Altman in the movie, "Broadcast News."

Awards

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McGovern Award for preeminent contributions to medical communication

2014

Given by the American Medical Medical Writers Association. Past recipients include Anthony Fauci, George Lundberg, John K. Iglehart, Art Caplan, Sherwin Nuland, Jerome Groopman.

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Mirror Award for media industry reporting

2007 - Excellence in Media Information Services

From S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

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Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism

2006

The Knight-Batten Awards spotlight the creative use of new information ideas and technologies to involve citizens in public issues. They are administered by J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland.

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National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Award

1989

The Science in Society Journalism Awards provide recognition for investigative or interpretive reporting about the sciences and their impact on society and are sponsored by the National Association of Science Writers.