Latest news with #AllbrittonJournalismInstitute
eNCA
29-05-2025
- Health
- eNCA
'Make America Healthy Again' report cites nonexistent studies: authors
WASHINGTON - At least four of the studies cited in a flagship White House report on children's health do not exist, authors listed in the document told AFP Thursday, casting doubt on the paper outlining Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s agenda. The highly anticipated "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) report was released May 22 by the presidential commission tasked with assessing drivers of childhood chronic disease. But it includes broken citation links and credits authors with papers they say they did not write. The errors were first reported on Thursday by NOTUS, a US digital news website affiliated with the nonprofit Allbritton Journalism Institute. Noah Kreski, a Columbia University researcher listed as an author of a paper on adolescent anxiety and depression during the Covid-19 pandemic, told AFP the citation is "not one of our studies" and "doesn't appear to be a study that exists at all." The citation includes a link that purports to send users to an article in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA, but which is broken. Jim Michalski of JAMA Network Media Relations said it "was not published in JAMA Pediatrics or in any JAMA Network journal." AFP also spoke with Harold Farber, pediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine, who said the paper attributed to him "does not exist", nor had he ever collaborated with the co-authors credited in the MAHA report. Similarly, Brian McNeill, spokesperson for Virginia Commonwealth University, confirmed that Professor Robert Findling did not author a paper that the report says he wrote about advertising of psychotropic medications for youth. A fourth paper on ADHD medication, was also not published in the journal Pediatrics in 2008, as claimed in the MAHA report. "I can confirm that we didn't find that title in a site search," said Alex Hulvalchick, media relations specialist for the journal's publisher, the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment, referring questions on the apparent errors to the White House. Kennedy was approved as health secretary earlier this year despite widespread alarm from the medical community over his history of promoting vaccine misinformation and denying scientific facts. Since taking office, he has ordered the National Institutes of Health to probe the causes of autism -- a condition he has long falsely tied to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The report's chronic disease references appear to nod to that same disproven theory, discredited by numerous studies since the idea first aired in a late 1990s paper based on falsified data. It also rails against the "over-medicalization" of children, citing surging prescriptions of psychiatric drugs and antibiotics, and blaming "corporate capture" for skewing scientific research.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr's "Make America Healthy Again" Report Cites Studies That Don't Exist, in Clear Sign of AI Generated Slop
Last week, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released a controversial "Make America Healthy Again" Commission report. The report was already criticized for blaming the decline in Americans' health woes on discredited scapegoats such as cell phone radiation and the "overmedicalization of kids." Now it turns out the report was also relying on some extremely questionable sources to back up its claims — and quite possibly the sloppy use of generative AI. As the Allbritton Journalism Institute's education organization, NOTUS, found in its investigation, many of the report's citations are riddled with errors. Some don't appear to exist at all. While there's no definitive proof that Kennedy's department made use of generative AI, the results certainly bear all of the hallmarks of AI chatbots like ChatGPT. We've already come across countless examples of AI-hallucinated citations ending up in important documents, from law firms being caught passing around bogus AI slop to scientific literature riddled with references to papers that don't exist. Like Kennedy, the White House has also been accused of using AI to draft Donald Trump's storm of executive orders. The MAHA Commission report is, to put it lightly, extremely sketchy. According to NOTUS, of the more than 500 studies and other sources listed in the document, at least seven don't exist. Other citations include broken links — yet another hallmark sign of AI hallucinations — while others misstate conclusions. Epidemiologist Katherine Keyes, whose name was listed on a seemingly nonexistent study on anxiety in adolescents that was cited by the report, told NOTUS that the "paper cited is not a real paper that I or my colleagues were involved with." "We've certainly done research on this topic, but did not publish a paper in JAMA Pediatrics on this topic with that coauthor group, or with that title," she said. Two other citations, which allegedly were "broadly illustrative" of how direct-to-consumer drug ads lead to more ADHD and antidepressant prescriptions for kids, were also completely made up, NOTUS found. Other citations included grossly overgeneralized conclusions. "It is a tremendous leap of faith to generalize from a study in one Medicaid managed care program in Texas using 2011 to 2015 data to national care patterns in 2025," pediatric pulmonologist Harold Farber, whose study was cited in the report, told NOTUS. It's an especially troubling development, considering the Trump administration's broader war against science, undermining long-established evidence like the effectiveness of vaccines and gutting important scientific funding. The situation has gotten so bad, a Nature poll revealed last month, that the majority of scientists are now considering leaving the United States. Kennedy, who is severely underqualified for his role as secretary of health, admitted during a recent appearance before Congress that nobody "should be taking advice, medical advice from me." The noted anti-vaxxer has directed health authorities to investigate nonexistent links between vaccines and autism and repeatedly refused to acknowledge the effectiveness of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) shot amid a devastating and preventable measles outbreak. In other words, the apparent use of generative AI for a 73-page commission report is just the tip of the iceberg, showcasing a baffling degree of carelessness and a desire to push an agenda that isn't built on any credible scientific evidence. "AI is useful for many things," science communicator Joe Hanson wrote in a post on Bluesky. "Making or guiding government policy is not one of them!" "Seems like the kind of thing someone might do if they were interested in publishing propaganda to support a particular agenda rather than letting science guide their health policy," he added. More on Kennedy: Trump's Crackpot Secretary of Health Admits That Literally Nobody Should Be Taking Medical Advice from Him
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Make America Healthy Again' report cites nonexistent studies: authors
At least four of the studies cited in a flagship White House report on children's health do not exist, authors listed in the document told AFP Thursday, casting doubt on the paper outlining Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s agenda. The highly anticipated "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) report was released May 22 by the presidential commission tasked with assessing drivers of childhood chronic disease. But it includes broken citation links and credits authors with papers they say they did not write. The errors were first reported Thursday by NOTUS, a US digital news website affiliated with the nonprofit Allbritton Journalism Institute. Noah Kreski, a Columbia University researcher listed as an author of a paper on adolescent anxiety and depression during the Covid-19 pandemic, told AFP the citation is "not one of our studies" and "doesn't appear to be a study that exists at all." The citation includes a link that purports to send users to an article in peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA, but which is broken. Jim Michalski of JAMA Network Media Relations said it "was not published in JAMA Pediatrics or in any JAMA Network journal." AFP also spoke with Harold Farber, pediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine, who said the paper attributed to him "does not exist" nor had he ever collaborated with the co-authors credited in the MAHA report. Similarly, Brian McNeill, spokesperson for Virginia Commonwealth University, confirmed that professor Robert Findling did not author a paper the report says he wrote about advertising of psychotropic medications for youth. A fourth paper on ADHD medication, was also not published in the journal Pediatrics in 2008 as claimed in the MAHA report. "I can confirm that we didn't find that title in a site search," said Alex Hulvalchick, media relations specialist for the journal's publisher the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment, referring questions on the apparent errors to the White House. Kennedy was approved as health secretary earlier this year despite widespread alarm from the medical community over his history of promoting vaccine misinformation and denying scientific facts. Since taking office, he has ordered the National Institutes of Health to probe the causes of autism — a condition he has long falsely tied to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The report's chronic disease references appear to nod to that same disproven theory, discredited by numerous studies since the idea first aired in a late 1990s paper based on falsified data. It also rails against the "over-medicalization" of children, citing surging prescriptions of psychiatric drugs and antibiotics, and blaming "corporate capture" for skewing scientific research. mgs/st
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'Get yourself a real job': Trump's interaction with NOTUS reporter goes viral
President Donald Trump often calls out media houses, journalists, and gives nicknames to journalists, but his interaction with one particular reporter this morning went viral as he just shrugged off the question-answer situation, giving the reporter career advice. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Trump Tuesday reached the Capitol to speak to the Republicans over his big, beautiful bill. He spoke to the Republicans for more than an hour and asked them not to touch Medicaid with cuts. 'We have unbelievable unity,' Trump said after the meeting. 'I think we're going to get everything we want.' "President Trump, Andy Harris said that you didn't adequately convince enough people to vote for the bill," a reporter asked. "After this speech?" Trump asked and answered: "Well, why don't we see how the vote is? I think it was a great talk. It wasn't a speech. We talked about things." "Who do you work for?" Trump asked the reporter. The report said he worked for NOTUS. "What? I don't even know what the hell that is. Get yourself a real job," Trump said. As the video went viral, NOTUS journalists plugged their website and claimed that it's a good time to subscribe to their newsletter. What is NOTUS ? NOTUS is a non-profit, non-partisan media outlet based in Washington, D.C., focused on political reporting. It was established in 2023 by the Allbritton Journalism Institute. NOTUS aims to provide in-depth coverage of political events and issues, often focusing on the "why" behind the news rather than just the "what." The outlet positions itself as distinct from other media organizations by emphasizing its non-profit status and non-partisan approach, aiming to offer a different perspective on political journalism. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "There's something else that's unique about NOTUS: It's produced by a newsroom like no other. We're a product of the Allbritton Journalism Institute, a new journalism education organization founded by Robert Allbritton, the former publisher of POLITICO. At AJI, we're training the next generation of great journalists by pairing some of the country's most promising up-and-coming reporters – individuals from different regions, different backgrounds, and different beliefs – with some of the most accomplished journalists working in Washington today," NOTUS explains on their site.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats holding 'informal conversations' on trans issues after being 'caught flat-footed' in 2024
Democrats are hoping to address transgender politics after being caught "flat-footed" on them in the 2024 election. Topics such as transgender athletes playing in women's sports or gender transition treatments for minors gained nationwide attention in 2024, with Democrats largely advocating on behalf of both issues. However, polls have shown the vast majority of Americans have opposed these issues, leading many to consider it a losing issue for Democrats. NOTUS, a product of the Allbritton Journalism Institute, published comments on Friday from multiple House Democrats on both sides of the issue who have said that they've had or plan to have "informal conversations" with each other over the best path moving forward to address it. James Carville Predicts More Dems Will Follow Gavin Newsom In Speaking Out On Trans Athletes In Women's Sports One of them included Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender congressional member. Though McBride has been passionate about transgender issues on the floor, the Delaware representative criticized party members for attacking each other over not being 100% in agreement. "I think it is an incredibly problematic instinct that many have to excommunicate people who aren't in lockstep with you on every policy, or even aren't in lockstep with you on the messaging," McBride told NOTUS. Read On The Fox News App McBride has also advised Democrats to treat transgender topics as a pivot for Republicans away from important issues, arguing that it was not a major issue in the 2024 election. Democratic Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman emphasized the talks so far have been very informal, comparing them to pulling someone aside for a comment. He appreciated them as a contrast to the "mean as f---" Republican legislation on trans issues. "I do think there is, on the positive side, a growing appreciation that Democrats could be a little judgy and annoying about this, and maybe we should be open-minded and appreciate that not everyone is where we are," Landsman said. Democrat Who Spoke Out Against Trans Athletes In Women's Sports Comes Under Attack From Own Party NOTUS also spoke to Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, who came under fire in November after calling out his party for being out-of-touch with Americans on the issue. Moulton confirmed he had spoken to McBride on trans issues but added "people are still scared to have" broader conversations on how to handle them. Fox News Digital reached out to McBride, Landsman and Moulton for a comment. According to a Pew Research Center poll in February, 66% of Americans favor requiring trans athletes to compete in teams that match their "sex assigned at birth," and 56% favor banning healthcare professionals from giving gender transition treatments to article source: Democrats holding 'informal conversations' on trans issues after being 'caught flat-footed' in 2024
