I offer full disclosure right up front: I love FoxNews. It is my favorite channel. Other than a brief peek at NBC's Today show at 7am each day, FoxNews is the only channel I watch. I find them to be, as their logo brags, "fair and balanced." It seems that many other Americans agree with me: FoxNews is frequently cited as being #1 in national viewership of cable news channels.
But despite my great allegiance to Fox, I think there is room for improvement at that network. A lot of room.
During this week, for example, I had FoxNews on all day (with the volume off, just reading the "crawl" and "News Alerts"): In the course of a one-hour news cycle, these same topics were repeated over and over again:
--The Kobe Bryant case, with frequent updates about how and when the alleged victim was changing her legal strategy
--The Lacy Peterson trial and Scott Peterson's defense against accusations of murdering of his wife, with special emphasis on the daily arrival of Scott's former mistress at the courthouse to testify
--The indictment of Mark Hacking in Salt Lake, in connection with the disappearance (and presumed murder) of his wife Lori.
These three stories were covered multiple times in an hour (some with their own theme music), interrupted only occasionally by reports of new explosions in Baghdad or breathless reporting, with associated footage from a helicopter camera, of the latest police car chase in Los Angeles, Dallas, or wherever the police chase du jour was taking place.
It seems to me that FoxNews (and probably CNBC, CNN, and MSNBC as well) needs some new material.
Some Neglected Stories
There must be exciting and provocative stories in the fields of public health, business, finance, transportation, the arts, and more that could be dropped in between Laci and Koby and Lori. I am talking about interesting stuff well packaged, vital news that would satisfy FoxNews's desire to entertain as well as inform. Surely, the network is not dependent on new stories of husbands killing their pregnant wives, or alleged crimes by famous sports figures, to survive and thrive.
I herewith call on a variety of professionals to choose some vital topics from their own fields of expertise and send a list of these topics (with suggestions for vibrant, entertaining, informed, television-trained guests) to FoxNews and the other cable news outlets.
For my part, I humbly offer the following topics as the subject of five- to seven-minute segments to be addressed by FoxNews's choice of ACSH scientists and physicians:
¢America's Life-Saving Pharmaceuticals in Crisis
This piece could address topics like the growing trend of importing drugs from Canada, the implications for our health, the increased risk of counterfeit drugs entering our country, the effect of price supports on the incentive to invest in research for new drugs, and related topics. Why are we being fed repeated stories of the salacious details of a mistress's first date with an alleged murder suspect when most American have no idea that importation, drug counterfeiting, and pharmaceutical patent violation are dramatically reducing our prospects of having new, life-saving drugs in our future?
¢Cigarette Smoking: Still Killing Nearly Half a Million Americans Annually
This need not be a segment that nags people about smoking. It could report on proposed legislation to give the FDA authority over cigarettes and whether that promotes or threatens public health, or it could look at novel ways to assist those trying to quit, the real versus the hypothetical risks of second hand smoke, and the little-discussed benefits (in terms of harm reduction) of smokers switching from death-dealing cigarettes to smokeless tobacco, a far less risky product. Such a segment could have a news peg linked to a celebrity death from smoking whether that be the death of former Beatle George Harrison or whoever else was in the news.
¢Simple Things You Can Do to Save Your (and Your Child's) Life
This could be a checklist of all the basics like wearing bike helmets while biking and rollerblading, avoiding overexposure to sunlight, eating a moderate and varied diet, and putting on seatbelts every time (even in taxis, as a Mets player's recent accident reminds us).
¢The Truth About Childhood Vaccines
This could be a segment cutting through the myth that vaccines cause autism and other diseases.
¢Facts vs. Fiction About Estrogen Replacement Therapy
Introduce basic concepts of benefits vs. risk, the importance of making decisions based on individual needs, how to sort scientific facts from myth and hyperbole.
¢How to Protect Yourself in an Age of Terrorism
Put risks in perspective, explain what a "dirty bomb" could and could not do, compare and contrast the real risks of different forms of bioterrorism (anthrax versus smallpox), and debunk claims that all of us need KI pills in the house to protect from radiation exposure.
¢Do I Really Need to Take Extra Vitamins?
Separate fact and fiction on which vitamins and minerals may do all or some of us good (folate, calcium) versus all that other useless stuff for sale in the so-called health food stores.
¢What Really Causes Cancer?
Look at what factors have indeed been nailed down as known risk factors for cancer: smoking, excessive sunlight, multiple sexual partners, excessive alcohol use (particularly in conjunction with smoking), etc. versus the purely hypothetical "carcinogens" we hear about daily including acrylamide in French Fries and PCBs in farmed salmon, none of which have ever been scientifically linked to human cancer.
¢How Much Promise Does Stem Cell Research offer?
The First Lady says that embryonic stem cell (ESC) research is in such an early stage that we do not know what, if anything, it will offer. But the New England Journal of Medicine argues that the existing restrictive policies on federal funding of ESC research represent "missed opportunities." What are the facts and realities here?
Other Professions' Priorities?
I could continue my list for pages, but suffice to say, I believe there are myriad public health topics that can be made lively, entertaining and informative and could give us a much more balanced diet than a plate full of Laci, Lori, and Kobe.
I've done my part in the public health department. Are there those willing and able in other fields to come up with a menu of topics to spice up the news cycle and, at the same time, elevate the level of general knowledge for American viewers?
Elizabeth Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H., is president of the American Council on Science and Health.
