As a (budding) Communication scholar, I’m inclined to criticize all forms of media. Now, I realize that this is a little hypocritical (me writing THIS media that you are reading), but I think that this is an important piece to bring to your attention.

On The Media is an NPR program produced at WNYC which (also quite hypocritically) examines the media which surrounds us. Co-host Bob Garfield interviewed Gary Schwitzer, an editor of the website Health News Review, about the (negative) impact that news media have on influencing health decisions of the general public.

If this piece doesn’t make your skin crawl, you need to listen to it again. As infuriating and seemingly wrong as it is, this type of reporting has become the norm and as you can see, is incredibly problematic. Don’t trust what you hear on the news, but don’t trust me or Bob Garfield either.