ABSTRACT
Health and healthcare are issues that have a near-universal appeal in every country of the world. Health issues tend to score relatively high on most measures of “news values” good news, bad news, timeliness, and controversy. Health and healthcare often feature on the political and parliamentary agenda. The news media feature political and ideologically charged debates on how government money is to be spent, how health services should be organised, and how far the bodies organising healthcare should be locally and democratically accountable. The problem with the vast majority of the public relying on their health news and information from the output of inexpert journalists in under-staffed, under-pressure newsrooms competing for space against “clickbait” trivia and ephemeral showbiz and “celebrity” coverage is a significant one. The chapter attempts to set out the need for health reporters to take a critical, analytical approach to reporting on health — and the availability of materials that can assist.
