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By
Erica Brownfield, MD |
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I
had been interviewed by the media about the danger of styrofoam
several weeks before, and here was an industry representative calling
me with obvious contention over what I had said.
“Dr. Brownfield,” he said,
“we’d like to know where you got your information. We’d
love to educate you further on the safety of styrofoam.”
Luckily, I had kept all of my sources
and information regarding this story and quickly supported my statements
made before ending the phone call. After hanging up, I thought to
myself, “Wow, people really do watch TV, and it really does
matter what you say.” But of course I knew this; this is exactly
why I made the decision to work with the media in educating the
public about health in the first place. |
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I
said what? |
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The
power of the media to influence public opinion and behavior is unparallelled.
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey has turned obscure writers into best-selling
authors. Female fans of the TV show “Friends” flocked
to their hairdressers by the thousands demanding “the Rachel”
after seeing actress Jennifer Aniston’s modified shag flip
across the screen. More recently, and of more interest to health
care providers, pharmaceutical companies have dramatically increased
their profits with direct-to-consumer advertising.
It is this power that compels me to
work with the media to disseminate accurate health information to
the public. What other tool do I have as a physician that is as
powerful and as effective in reaching so many with health information?
None. What better way to ensure the portrayal of accurate health
information to the public than being directly involved in the reporting
of medical information?
Participation, admittedly, can have
some unexpected consequences.
Occasionally, I will be asked to discuss
a topic that I know nothing about, and I will quickly decline and
recommend someone else. But more often, I have had to decline interviews
because of patient care priorities and the fact that the media usually
can’t wait.
And while the media tries to get the
facts right, they often seem to be in the business of covering controversial
or extreme topics while ignoring more mundane information that could
help more people. And even when they are genuinely interested in
educating the public about an important health topic, there are
just limits to their medical knowledge. There have been a few occasions
when I heard an interview I did on TV and said to myself “I
didn’t say that!” and then realized that what I had
said had been taken completely out of context. |
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Getting
it right |
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Over
my six-year career at Emory, I have been interviewed several times,
and I have learned that, provided you follow a few simple rules,
your experience as a media source can be painless—even rewarding.
For physicians who might be considering this for the first time,
I would give the following advice:
Get the questions in advance.
I have found that reporters will usually provide me with a list
of questions they want answered in advance. This gives me the opportunity
to do any needed research or thought-collection. Most of the stories
relate to internal medicine questions that I feel comfortable answering
and, overall, I have been pleased by my interaction with the media.
Sometimes I’ve been surprised with a question during an interview,
but that is rare. (But it is for those rare occasions that I offer
this next tip.)
Don’t try to be an expert
on a topic you know nothing about. I’ve learned that
it is essential to know your limits before going into an interview.
The reporter may have been doing research on this particular topic
for months while you’ve been juggling a teaching schedule
and a full caseload of different patients. If you’re asked
a question you don’t know the answer to, just say so and move
on. Don’t feel pressured to say something you might regret
later. And, finally . . .
Learn to speak in concise,
10-second soundbites if you don’t want your quotes edited
beyond all recognition. This mostly applies to interviews
for television and radio but has some relevance for print media
as well. Long, complicated answers leave room for editing errors.
Be accurate, but try to keep your advice as simple and as direct
as possible, without delving into too much medical or scientific
language. |
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Why
do it at all? |
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I
take the job of being interviewed by the media as one of the most
important jobs I can have as a physician. And I think doctors
should be proactive in promoting themselves as media resources,
not to improve their own visibility but the quality of medical
information given to the public.
When I first moved to Atlanta and
started at Emory, I approached CNN about starting a collaborative
effort between our training physicians and their Health News department.
By working with them, I felt that we could help ensure that the
medical news was balanced and accurate, and at the same time
it would help us understand how news stories are researched, written,
and reported. We now place medical residents in one-month internships
with the network. They work with CNN producers to research and
report health stories accurately. The residents’ involvement
not only improves the stories, but it allows them to better understand
how the media operates and how to convey information in a way
that the public finds accessible and understandable.
It is absolutely vital for all doctors
to be better educated about the media’s influence on their
patients. When physicians better understand the process of medical
news-making and are willing to participate in that process, they
are better able to influence the end product before it reaches
the public.
I still find it quite comical when I have a long-lost relative
or friend call me and say “I saw you on TV” and act
as though this, rather than all the patients I have treated, is
the greatest achievement of my life. I certainly don’t see
it as that. I do hope that affecting the health of others is one
of my greatest achievements. Whether it’s being in front
of the camera or behind the scenes working with medical reporters
and writers,
I hope that I can continue to do
just that, and I hope to influence more physicians to do the same.
Erica Brownfield
is an assistant professor of medicine at Emory School of Medicine. |
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