Behind the Headlines on the BBC!

May 5th 2011

Bazian Chief Executive Dr Viv Muthu, along with NHS Choices' Behind the Headlines team, was interviewed by the BBC College of Journalism as part of a series on how to report science stories.

Behind the Headlines is a daily service of independent, evidence-based analyses of health stories that appear in the news, for which Bazian has provided the behind the scenes analyses since 2007.

The video briefing provides background information for journalists on the Behind the Headlines production process and details the systematic appraisal process Bazian undertakes. Viv also described, based on Bazian's experience, the common problems that journalists should be aware of when reporting scientific stories, such as differentiating causation and association, and being aware of confounding factors.

When asked what advice he would give to a journalist reporting science, Paul Nuki (Editor of NHS Choices) replied simply:

"to read – every day – the Behind the Headlines service"

What a wise and discerning gent… We couldn't agree more!