Think journalists are impartial to Big Pharma’s big money? Think again.

The BMJ highlights the practice of pharmaceuticals “influencing some media by endowing university chairs or underwriting professional groups; fund journalism awards; sponsor video material with high-profile broadcasters, and hire public relations firms to contract with freelance writers (whose ranks are growing as newspapers throw staffers overboard) to compose stories for trade mags.”

Cash and international travel are mentioned as incentives for journalists, and a ludicrous faux-award for “reporting on urinary incontinence” was cited.

Industry influence on the medical profession has been heavily covered in the media. When writing these stories, some journalists had better look in the mirror.

topics: media, pharma