A couple of posts ago, I tore apart a media article which seemed to report results from a scientific study, but really did no such thing, and in the attempt, did it really badly.

This week, I found a good example of a short news report about a research study, and though it appropriate to share. Allow me to shine a light on Science Daily‘s article "Mom’s favoritism tied to depression in adulthood", as reported on July 10, 2010.

I’m not going to say this is a perfect example, but for the format the article is written in, it hits the high points without getting bogged down by a lot of pointless fluff.

What is exactly that makes me call this article better than the one about video games being tied to reckless driving? Here’s a list:

• The study is sourced to the institution where it was conducted, and all the authors are cited, as well as their qualifications.
• The research methodology and project scope are clearly spelled out.
• General findings presented are clearly tied only to the research itself, rather than folk wisdom. Potential outcomes of said research are realistic, and not presented sensationalistically.
• Quotes presented from a proposed "authority" are directly tied to that person’s authority (in this case, the quotations come directly from the author of the study); there’s no "bait and switch" here.
• The story is  based on a press release, though is clearly identified as being sourced to such.   Press-release stories are common, but the acknowledgement is nice.
• The story offers a direct citation of the journal article written about the study, and a link to the abstract if a reader desires more information.

Also, a cool nice-to-have but not-strictly-necessary extra is the fact that the web site provides citations for this article in MLA and APA format in the event a student wishes to reference this article in a paper or report.

Now, to be fair, this article is written for a science-centered news outlet, rather than a local network affiliate, though I’d argue that both are aimed at general audiences. Also, both deal with similar topics, are roughly the same length, and both news outlets use advertising – I believe there’s enough similarities between them to make the comparison.

Clearly, both articles and studies deal with societally relevant topics a good portion of the audience can relate to; however, I believe this one does a much better job of reporting factual, specific information on the topic in a way that is engaging to the reader, without resorting to controversy or manipulative emotional appeals that have little bearing on the actual subject.

I wish this type of reporting were the norm. Sadly, we all know it’s not.