In the recent past, many events have contributed in misleading the general public about the importance of clinical research. Most people tend to believe that clinical research just makes “guinea pigs” out of people with no importance or benefits to anyone in particular. The inaccuracies in both print and mass media along with speculations has highlighted the “ugly” side of clinical research, without actually informing the public of what exactly has gone wrong and what measures are needed to rectify the problem.This is perhaps the time that medical journalism proved its importance in clinical research. Medical Journalism can help bridge the barriers which are usually created between the general public and scientific community by factors like a poorly or incomplete report, lack of knowledge on the subject of the reporting journalist, and of course, the lack of space in public journalism as well. So what exactly is Medical Journalism? It is the circulation of medical based articles in the general public. And if done in a rational and scientific way, medical journalism can prevent the negative vibes which the general public usually associate with clinical research or clinical trials. Medical Journalism is essentially based on evidence based research. It analyzes the pros and cons of the situation before publishing it in public. It must be understood that every aspect of the research must be considered before writing clinical research off. And medical journalism can do the exact thing. There are experienced medical writers who would present a fair and just article to the public and not let them form an opinion which would mostly go against clinical research.
It must be remembered that creating a buzz in the public is necessary for the public to be made aware, but sometimes several tabloids and newspapers jump the bandwagon simply for the sake of publicity and somehow they seem to thrive on negative criticism. An important field such as Clinical Research cannot simply afford to not defend itself from such forces. So here’s hoping that there will be more responsible medical journalists who would do the much needed justice to the readers and viewers alike when it comes to the clinical research. After all it is only because of clinical research that we have treatments available in the market that cure us of diseases and life threatening situations.