Analysis shows how unproven therapeutics were portrayed in the media during the early phase of COVID-19 pandemic

A new study from researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine is shedding light on how scientific evidence and the uncertainty surrounding three unproven therapeutics were portrayed by the U.S. news media during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The findings appear in the JMIR Infodemiology . For the study, the researchers conducted an analysis of 479 reports of hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir and/or convalescent plasma in traditional and online U.S.

news outlets that were published or aired between Jan. 1 and July 30, 2020. These three products were the focus of much media attention during the initial phase of the pandemic and were being investigated in registered clinical studies in the U.

S. "Journalists covering COVID-19 faced an extraordinarily challenging task of keeping the public informed in a hyper-politicized climate filled with misinformation and reliance on unsubstantiated science," said Zubin Master, Ph.D.

, associate professor of social sciences and health policy at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. "This period of time was when medical specialists and the general public were anxiously scrambling to learn as much as possible about prevention and treatments because there were yet no proven therapeutics or vaccines. This makes for an ideal case study to examine how the news media portrays scientific evidence.

" The research team analyzed news reports on how scientific evidence, evidence details and limitations, safety, efficacy, and sources.