Assessing Mass Media Reporting of Disease-Related Genetic Discoveries

Abstract
Objective: To develop an instrument to assess the content and balance of media stories about genetic discoveries relevant to human diseases and assess its ability to detect variability. Methods: Consumer focus groups to help develop the instrument, and surveys of scientists and journalists to evaluate the items. Ratings by at least two readers assessed reliability. Variability was measured by comparing scores of 47 stories emanating from two discoveries.