Cancer Risk: Understanding the Puzzle

Listen to the radio broadcast. Use the steps below to analyze what you heard. Not everyone will use every step. Choose the ones that work for you.

Step 1: Request a transcript.
Call the radio station. Tell them the date and time you heard the news story and what it was about (in this case, a study on antibiotics and cancer). The station will usually send you a transcript.

Step 2: Identify the institution that led the study.
The transcript will usually mention the lead institution. Go to the institution’s Web site to find more information. The National Cancer Institute, the lead institution for this study, provided a press release and a list of questions and answers about the study.

Step 3: Locate the scientific article.
Search the Web for the scientific article about the study. In this case, the study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). A reprint was available on the Web.

Step 4: Use the “How To Analyze the Media” questionnaire.
Check the accuracy of the radio story by using the questionnaire found in the blue box above. In this example, we made a chart based on the questionnaire and filled in the answers.

Step 5: Talk to your doctor.
If you don’t understand the details of the study or are still uncertain about what to do, you might discuss it with your doctor.

Listen to the radio broadcast

What Was That I Heard On The Radio?	email this page
Sometimes radio news stories go by so fast that you miss the details. But you may hear enough to know the subject is important to you. How do you find out more about what you heard? This section has some tips.