Mass Media
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Mass media publication refers to the research study. |
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Mass media publications are non peer-reviewed publications or consumer oriented publications that discuss, highlight or provide a summary of the findings of the research study. Mass media examples include newspapers, magazines, trade publications, consumer health websites, etc. These mass media publications are not issued by the research study investigators or the affiliate institution.
For example, an article in the trade publication Optometric Management, “OHTS One Year Later” by J. James Thimons, outlined the significance of a study, the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS):
The OHTS was the first major study to proactively assess the role of CCT in the diagnosis and decision for therapy . . . OHTS has shown itself to be one of the most important publications in the field of glaucoma in recent years. The data it has generated are simply the beginning of the knowledge that we will derive. Clinicians who manage patients who have glaucoma need to stay abreast of the many areas in which the OHTS study will affect the care of our patients in the future.
Research conducted at Washington University has been featured in many mass media publications, such as:
- The New York Times:
- Time Magazine:
- Newsweek:
- CNN.com
Assessment
A comprehensive review of the literature is required to locate mass media publications. No single database or search engine will produce all results.
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Search using the keywords, title of the research study; the disease, disorder or condition; the specific medical specialty of the disease, disorder or condition; name of the primary investigator/s as a search query. Review of each result is required in order to locate mass media communications. |
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Mass media publications such as those produced using television or radio will be very difficult to locate, if at all. However, some research studies that are affiliated with a large academic or research centers have offices related to public affairs that track references to a particular study in mass media outlets including television and radio. Consult the campus office responsible for media matters such as the Office of Public Affairs at Washington University or its equivalent. Some offices offer a media releases archive that can be searched.
Check the websites of major organizations devoted to a specialized area of medicine or research for trade publications. These include organizations with a focus on consumer health. Trade publications are usually issued by an organization devoted to a specialized area of medicine or research and serve an intermediary role between research and practice by synthesizing research findings for clinicians and providing information on practice management. Many of these trade publications are freely available without a subscription. Check the websites of professional organizations devoted to a specialized area of medicine or research for trade publications. As with peer-reviewed literature, searching will require comprehensive review of the literature to locate evidence of knowledge transfer.
Another source of current updates on a research project is the funding source for the research project. For example, the National Eye Institute (NEI), which supported the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS) study, issued several updates on the findings from OHTS. The NEI Clinical Studies Database contains a listing of past and currently funded projects and also includes select publications associated with the research study. Check with the funding source of the research study to locate media communications that provided information on the research study.
Newspaper archives for local or national papers are also recommended. For example, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offers a free search of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Archives from 1998 to the present. The New York Times also offers a free search of its Articles Archives for articles from 1981 to the present.
Other resources that may be helpful include the following:
Access World News
Access World News covers local and regional newspapers from outside the US. with selective coverage of broadcast transcripts, newscasts, and newswires. Follow directions for searching as noted.
LexisNexis Academic
LexisNexis Academic contains full-text news, business, legal, and reference information. Newspapers included in the service are updated several times daily, newswires hourly. Follow directions for searching as noted.
Google allows for searching of media materials and retrieves results from a variety of sources. Google News specifically searches 4,500 news sources and Google Alerts can be established by users to regularly deliver search results for a specific search directly to an email address or RSS feed.
Yahoo!
Yahoo! allows for searching of media materials and retrieves results from a variety of sources. Yahoo! News Search specifically searches Yahoo! News and other news sources across the web.
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Last updated: June 1, 2009