How have quality newspapers covered the microbiome? A content analysis of The New York Times, The Times, and El País

Abstract

The microbiome has captured the attention of researchers and newspapers. We studied how the subject is covered in The New York Times, The Times, and El País via DowJones Factiva (2007–2019), analyzing aspects that included article type, word count, authorship, topic, and citation of researchers, organizations, and journals. We found that 87.6% of newspaper articles (409/467) were news articles and most were longer than 300 words (396; 84.8%), with The New York Times devoting the highest proportion to newspaper articles over 1000 words (99; 45.4%). While basic science findings received the most attention from newspapers from 2007 to 2015, topics related to medicine and nutrition attracted increasing attention from 2016 to 2019. Newspapers showed a domestic preference for their respective researchers, organizations, and journals.

Online information in Spanish on probiotics, yoghurt, kefir, kombucha, fibre and prebiotics: an analysis of the quality of information and the certainty of the evidence supporting health claims

“…The prominent presence of commercial (23.7%) and news (23.7%) web pages in Spanish is in line with previous results on web page content on probiotics in English 42 43. Our findings reflect companies’ interest in therapeutically exploiting the microbiome42 43 and the newsworthiness of the topic 2–4…”

“…42 43 Our findings reflect companies' interest in therapeutically exploiting the microbiome 42 43 and the newsworthiness of the topic. [2][3][4] Regarding the first objective, both the plethora of beneficial health claims for dietary interventions intended to improve health through the gut microbiome and the weak evidence base supporting such health claims were also expected. All in all, our data add valuable details for better understanding the online information to which audiences are exposed.…”

“…Research into the microbial ecosystem residing in the gastrointestinal tract, which is collectively known as the gut microbiome, is commanding increasing attention among medical audiences and the general public 1–4. While the microbiome is now often thought of as a virtual organ of the body due to its influence in many areas of human health, from immunity to energy metabolism and mental health,5–7 its causal involvement in diseases is mostly unresolved 8.…”

“…Research into the microbial ecosystem residing in the gastrointestinal tract, which is collectively known as the gut microbiome, is commanding increasing attention among medical audiences and the general public. [1][2][3][4] While the microbiome is now often thought of as a virtual organ of the body due to its influence in many areas of human health, from immunity to energy metabolism and mental health, [5][6][7] its causal involvement in diseases is mostly unresolved. 8 Recent largescale studies have shown that diet is among the most important environmental factors to which the gut microbiome is exposed and by which it is modified on a daily basis, even outweighing host genetics.…”

Anorexia nervosa and microbiota: systematic review and critical appraisal

“…Thus, 96.8% of the 53,921 publications in PubMed under the label “gut microbiota” were published in the last decade. Moreover, the microbiota has become one of the scientific topics receiving broad coverage in the press [ 2 , 3 ], and microbiota-based products represent a fast-growing market today, with an estimated 275–400 $ million worldwide [ 4 ].…”