1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"The Health Question Every Woman Is Asking: Mammo or No?" by Liz Welch, writer Sunny Sea Gold, Deputy Editor Jill Herzig, Editor-in-Chief Lisa Singer Moran, Editor.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Oct. 10, 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The average Redbook reader is in her very early 40s, facing a critical decision: whether to start regular mammography screening at 40, as the American Cancer Society suggests, or wait until age 50, as the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended in a highly controversial shift in 2009. Many news outlets covered the USPSTF's report and the ensuing backlash, but none explained what women should do next. One year later, the mammography debate was still raging and women were more confused than ever. No other magazine had taken on the issue, but Redbook plunged in and guided women through the contradictory information surrounding one of the biggest health debates of the decade: when to begin regular mammography. In her research, National Magazine Award — winning reporter Liz Welch uncovered a poll by the American College of Physicians that found that 67 percent of doctors said they would stop recommending routine mammography at age 40, and documented through interviews with radiology centers a previously unreported 20-percent decrease in women seeking screening.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Welch and the editors pored over the US Preventive Services Task Force 2009 recommendation statement on breast cancer screening as well as medical studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Annals of Internal Medicine, and the Journal of the American Academy of Radiology. As for online resources, Welch used data and documents from the web sites of major organizations like the National Cancer Institute, Mayo Clinic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, and the American Cancer Society, as well as advocacy and industry groups like the Cancer Prevention Coalition, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the American Radiology Association.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Welch called on more than a dozen of the country's top breast-cancer doctors and radiologists, including the former chair of the USPSTF task force, Diana Pettiti, M.D., who hadn't given a magazine interview since 2009, to get the key information every woman needs in order to make the best possible decision.
6. Results (if any).
Because there is no longer a widespread consensus on when to begin regular mammography, our piece laid out, step-by-step, the risks and benefits to consider and the questions to ask your doctor before coming to your own conclusion. As a result of intensive reporting, Redbook was able to provide what the USPSTF had not: clear guidance for millions of readers.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
When there is no expert consensus on a topic, interview, interview, interview. It was only in thoroughly exploring the vastly differing opinions of the doctors and other experts involved — and challenging them to answer to each other's views — that we were able to come to a real and helpful consensus.