Media myths and big fat lies

It's the sort of article - published in one of numerous sections in the weekend papers - that is easy to overlook. But Vivienne Parry's 'Obesity: the big fat lie?' in today's Times is worth reading. It doesn't give Britain a clean bill of health (see HERE) but it explains that this week's apocalyptic headlines about obesity were based on a report by Foresight, a "highly respected science think-tank", and "didn't reflect what it had said at all".

According to Parry (who is debating the subject at next week's Battle of Ideas in London), the suggestion that this generation will die before their parents as a result of obesity is a "myth":

It always was a myth and there is no science to support it. But it has become one of those statements taken up with gusto by the media, and assimilated into popular consciousness ... Death clearly has good headline value, but is there any need for exaggeration?"

It's easy to blame the media for misreporting, but everyone needs to take a reality check. I've lost count of the number of studies whose findings are "exaggerated" by the media - until you read the press release and understand perfectly why a journalist, battling against a deadline, has taken a particular line.

Politicians too need to be much more considered in their response. (They could at least check and stick to the facts.) Unfortunately, everyone wants column inches. Without media coverage, politicians, researchers and lobby groups find it harder to get elected or attract funding. (I speak from experience.)

As a general rule, you don't get publicity (least of all a front page splash) by issuing a press release or commenting in a way that suggests there is little to worry about. (When was the last time you saw the headline, 'Not many dead'?) 

One politician who responded in a less than excitable fashion to a national "crisis" was prime minister Jim Callaghan in 1978 - and we all know what happened to him. It is therefore regrettable but hardly surprising if politicians are reluctant to adopt a similar laissez-faire attitude to health and other issues, regardless of the facts.