ABC - NETWORKS ACCUSED OF BIAS IN REPORTS ABOUT DRUG INDUSTRY

The Business and Media Institute, a conservative TV watchdog, has accused the broadcast networks of portraying pharmaceutical companies as villains and giving them little credit for "breakthroughs and miracle drugs." In a report titled "Prescription for Bias," BMI, a unit of Brent Bozell's conservative Media Research Center (MRC), said that an analysis of 132 stories related to drug companies airing on ABC, CBS and NBC last year "found a recurring network news bias against the pharmaceutical industry, treating drugs as an entitlement rather than an expensive-to-create product." In a digest of the report, CNSNews.com, which is also a unit of the MRC, said that the networks gave "special treatment for left-wing causes," noting that 19 network reports "focused on drugs that were popular liberal causes, such as the morning-after pill or HPV [sexually transmitted human papillomavirus) vaccine Gardasil." Among the BMI report's recommendations: "When reporting on the costs of drugs, journalists should take care not just to report on the cost of drugs to the consumer, but also the costs borne by companies in researching and developing them."

15/03/2007