conducts scientific studies of the news and entertainment media.
Science and Health Studies
In a period when rates of alcohol use and abuse are relatively stable, the media has raced to report on claims that binge drinking among women is on a dangerous trajectory.
Public health advocates are hailing a new Canadian study that claims minimum pricing could slash deaths from alcohol. But a close look at their statistical methods and data sourcing raise more questions than answers
STATS critiques a new study claiming that private liquor stores are hazardous to our health, while government liquor stores save lives.
Just as people glom onto miracle diets and miracle foods, they also look for the Darth Vader ingredients—those which use the force of taste to take over our bodies. HFCS was new, it was from corn, it was high in fructose. And it provided a simple solution to a hugely complex problem of why America was suddenly in the grip of obesity. But was this, “important potential hypothesis,” for the obesity epidemic (as the authors of the study wrote) true?
In this study, which was supported by a grant from the Corn Refiners Association, we examine media coverage of the debate over the health effects of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and other caloric sweeteners in the American diet. Beyond the basic pros and cons of the debate we also sought to understand the role science played in the debate over caloric sweeteners. We employed the social scientific research technique of content analysis, which is described in an appendix to this report.
December 6, 2013- Event to release GMU Survey on Chemical Risk Assessment – A Survey by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) and Center for Health and Risk Communication (CHRC) at George Mason University.