ALEXANDRIA, VA – Health care has taken
center stage in the 2008 elections. But the media have already set
the scene – portraying pharmaceutical companies as villains, when
they bother to mention them at all. The networks attack the industry
about drug costs, but give little credit for breakthroughs and
miracle drugs. “This fits the network pattern of mistreating any
successful business,” said L. Brent Bozell III, president of the
Media Research Center, the parent of the Business & Media Institute
(BMI) which authored the report. “The coverage is so one-sided,
it’s shameless,” said Dan Gainor, BMI director.
BMI’s new in-depth study, “Prescription for Bias,” documents the
media attacks on the pharmaceutical industry. The Special Report
quantifies the bias against drug companies based on analysis of 132
stories on prescription or over-the-counter drugs from the ABC, CBS
and NBC evening newscasts between January 1 and Sept. 30, 2006.
“Prescription for Bias” Key Findings
-
Industry Ignored – 80% of stories excluded
the viewpoint of the pharmaceutical industry
-
Cost to Consumer – Media overemphasized
consumer drug costs as opposed to drug development costs at a radio
of 11:1
-
Companies Unnoticed – Only 22% of the
stories even named the company responsible for developing life
saving cures
-
What Development Costs? – A mere 2% of the
stories addressed the cost to companies for researching and
developing drugs
-
Left-wing Causes – Nineteen stories
focused on drugs that were liberal causes including the
morning-after-pill or HPV vaccine Gardasil
The full special report including
recommendations to improve network coverage available at
www.BusinessAndMedia.org.
Read the Special Report
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