The quality of media reports on discoveries related to human genetic diseases.

Objectives: To examine (1) the quality of media reports (newspapers, television and public radio) of genetic discoveries with medical relevance and (2) factors related to the completeness and balance of the stories.

Methods: Analysis of the accuracy, balance, and completeness of 228 media stories reporting 24 genetic discoveries between 1996 and 2000 using a previously validated instrument.

Results: Although usually accurate, the stories contained only 45.