The ghost of public health journalism: past, present, and future

Our plain-English summary of The ghost of public health journalism: past, present, and future, by G.S. Cooper, R.C. Brown (Epidemiology, 2010).

The study

• Authors: G.S. Cooper, R.C. Brown
• Journal: Epidemiology
• Published: 2010;21(2):263-6
• Type of article: Historical article
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The news industry is undergoing shrinking newspaper circulations, cuts in science and health coverage, and expansion of Internet news sources. We examine the impact of these changes using a case study set in Libby, Montana. In 1999, a Seattle newspaper story focused attention on asbestos exposure and related diseases in this small town. In 2009, that newspaper became an online-only newspaper, just as coverage of a related criminal trial began. Later that year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a public health emergency. Online newspaper archives and a collaboration between the University of Montana's journalism and law schools contributed to coverage of these developments. Continued efforts to promote interest in and skills needed for high-quality public health and environmental reporting are needed.

In plain English

This commentary, not a research study, examined how changes in the news industry affect public health and environmental reporting. The authors used Libby, Montana, as a case study. Libby is a small town of about 10,000 people near a former open-pit vermiculite mine whose ore contained a form of asbestos. On 18 November 1999 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published Andrew Schneider's story on asbestos-related diseases in Libby residents, and within a week the EPA sent an emergency response team. The criminal trial of the mine's owner and operator, W.R. Grace, began on 23 February 2009. One month later the newspaper published its last edition and became online-only. The trial ended in May 2009 with 3 defendants acquitted on all charges and charges dropped against the remaining defendants. One month later the EPA declared a Public Health Emergency. The authors described online archives and a University of Montana law and journalism student project as helping cover these events. They also noted cuts in science coverage, such as at CNN. The authors concluded that continued efforts are needed to promote interest in, and skills for, high-quality public health and environmental reporting.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Commentary using a case study (Libby, Montana) to discuss public health journalism; not an original research study
• Who was studied: The town of Libby, Montana, and news coverage of asbestos there, 1999 to 2009; the town is described as having approximately 10,000 people
• Exposure: Asbestos from a vermiculite mine near Libby, Montana, whose ore the article says contained a form of asbestos (no fiber type is named in the article's own text). The article's main subject is news coverage of this exposure.
• Main results:
  • The authors recounted that on 18 November 1999 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published a story by Andrew Schneider about asbestos-related diseases in residents of Libby, Montana
  • According to the authors, within a week of the newspaper series the U.S. EPA sent in an emergency response team
  • Criminal charges for conspiracy and obstruction of justice were brought against the mine's owner and operator, W.R. Grace, in 2005
  • The criminal trial began on 23 February 2009, and one month later, on March 17, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published its last edition and became an online-only news source
  • The 3-month trial ended in May 2009 with the acquittal of 3 defendants on all charges
  • Charges were dropped against the remaining defendants
  • One month after the trial, the U.S. EPA issued a declaration of a Public Health Emergency
  • The authors described coverage of the trial by a collaboration between the University of Montana's School of Law and School of Journalism, in which student teams posted daily updates
  • The authors noted a loss of sustained science, health and environment coverage, giving the example that CNN eliminated its science, technology, and environment division in December 2008
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that continued efforts are needed to promote interest in and skills needed for high-quality public health and environmental reporting

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• Libby: the long legacy of a public health disaster — A. van Dorn (2017)
• Rural public health policy models to address an evolving environmental asbestos disaster — S.W. Kuntz, C.A. Winters, et al. (2009)
• The Public Health Value of Opioid Litigation — R.L. Haffajee (2020)
• With the best intentions: lead research and the challenge to public health — D. Rosner, G. Markowitz (2012)
• The origins of public concern with taconite and human health: Reserve Mining and the asbestos case — M.E. Berndt, W.C. Brice (2008)
• The art of perpetuating a public health hazard — M. Greenberg (2005)

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