It’s important to pay attention to science hype, which is the rationale for The Screamers Science Hype Awards. As far as I know, it’s the only award for science hype. Exaggerating research and medical potential clearly does harm.
I wrote a few weeks ago about the nominees for the 2024 The Screamers Awards.
Now it’s time to announce our winners.
Winner of The Screamers Science Hype Award 2024
The winners of The Screamers for 2024 are a collection of local TV stations that strongly promoted unproven stem cell clinics and their claims.
There’s been a growing, disturbing trend where such TV stations market unproven stem cells and other not-ready-for-primetime biologics.
It’s hard to single out just one station because so many got into this game.
I believe it’s really a cash grab for the media.
What’d local TV stations do so badly to win The Screamers?
Why is this important and so concerning?
The TV stations’ coverage of stem cells and other biologics is often just hype. No substantive news or journalism.
This hype gives false hope and encourages viewers to take potential risks on unproven cells. The stations sometimes even characterize the use of these products as being like miracles.
As I’ve written in the past, some reporters at these TV stations or other media outlets even get the unproven stem cells they are writing up, which raises questions about journalistic standards.
TV stations plugging unproven stem cells
Let’s take a look at the story above.
There is no stem cell therapy for autism showing real promise. This is not monumental. To even call this “therapy” is risky.
This story is, of course, about a stem cell clinic.
Why does this kind of thing merit a science hype award? Such items increase the chances of kids being given unproven stem cells, which have real risks.
TV stations also put out press releases like news on the web
I’ve written before about my concerns about the clinic chain called R3 Stem Cell. I noticed last year that R3 is showing up in a glowing way on many local TV stations’ newsy items. See three examples above that popped up on Google News. Is this news? Nope, advertising. In its infinite wisdom, Google thinks it’s news though.
The promotion by media goes beyond local TV stations.
Last year I wrote about how even the AP promoted R3 Stem Cell.
Science hype never stops
The media needs to be more responsible about unproven medical therapies and not do softball TV segments. I get the reality that media are under financial pressure, but plugging unproven stem cells goes too far in my view.
So who will win the 2025 science hype award?
Two years ago the BBC won for a story about a baby “probably saved” by stem cells.
Of course, science hype doesn’t have to be about stem cells or regenerative medicine. There’s been plenty about the genome, supposed cancer and COVID treatments, and more over the last few decades.
References and notes
- Spinning the Genome: Why Science Hype Matters
- Confronting stem cell hype
- As The Niche readers know, I have a beef with Google for its promotion of unproven stem cell clinics including through inaccurate search results that often place the clinics’ websites above the true experts like the NIH, Mayo, etc. Google’s AI search overviews on stem cells are also inaccurate and harmful.