it hasn t. .. i don t think the media has done itself has not really it s not had a good episode here. i think there are exceptions but, really, the running has been done by generalists predominantly by female journalists and all of the health and science specialists have been absent. there really wasn t the support from the wider bbc. and, rebecca coombes, if i could bring you in you re head ofjournalism at the british medicaljournal. would you agree? would you say that science journalists avoided this subject? i m afraid i would, actually. why? why did they? i think there was a real hesitancy, and i m hopeful that post cass, the hesitant might be more courageous in stepping into the silence. i think there was a real mishmash between evidence and advocacy, and that
storms when it s reporting on these issues. people on both sides . of the argument criticise the coverage. it has often had - to make apologies. i mean, for example, - it has apologised to jk rowling twice in the past year- or so because she s been accused of being . transphobic on air. and it s an incredibly i delicate balancing act, ithink, for the bbc. and, rebecca coombes, just to bring you in at the end, you re head ofjournalism at the british medicaljournal. i mean, one thing i should say is that and cass says it too you know, in the absence of evidence, don t we have to, as journalists, listen to the voices of people in pain? um, yes, we do. but i also think this is a call to improve sort of scientific literacy amongst health not just health journalists but against politicians because what we saw was a real sort of mishmash of a kind of activist blogger might be
placed as a highly placed source in a story alongside a research methodologist, whichjust didn t really make any sense. so, i think that this should be a call for the media to, you know, step into the silence and just be more confident about asking those questions. it feels like a good moment to end it on, i m afraid. rebecca coombes from the bmj british medicaljournal and hannah barnes, now at the new statesman, previously of newsnight, thanks so much for coming on the media show. thank you. now, hugh grant has settled a legal case he had against rupert murdoch s news group newspapers. the actor was one of a number of people, including prince harry, who are suing the publisher of the sun in the civil court. and jake kanterfrom deadline is still here, and will be through the programme. what s happened ? ithink, you know, we don t know the terms of the settlement but hugh grant has made very clear
and harmful. now, what all this is saying is we can t go on anecdote. we just don t know. we haven t got long term data that supports this. but if you approach this like you would any other area of health care, the evidence isn t there to support this intervention. i agree with that. i don t know how much truth you re going to get at. i think that every patient experience is a different one and that, in turn, is completely normal, so it s very hard to capture an average patient experience. right. and if we look at what cass, you know, another thing that cass writes in her report, she says, one of the major challenges for the review has been the difficulty in having open, honest debate as people with differing views can find it uncomfortable to sit together in the same room or on the same stage. that slightly points to the sort of culture wars conversations or feelings around this subject. rebecca, did you feel under any pressure from any groups as to how you cover this subject? y
The acute phase of the covid-19 pandemic might be over, but its shadow continues to loom large. The cumulative effect of covid on health services, including treatment backlogs, means that staff wellbeing is more important than ever. If you were able to grab some respite in a wellbeing “lounge” at work during the pandemic, chances are that those free hot drinks and snacks have now dried up, although the risks of acute and chronic fatigue have not receded (doi:10.1136/bmj.p2676).1
Adequate rest breaks, shifts that give appropriate time to recover, and hot food available out of hours should be standard, say Peter Brennan and colleagues, and senior staff should be …