Comments on: Genetics News from EurekAlert!

By: Genetics and Health » More About the EurekAlert! Smackdown

Genetics and Health » More About the EurekAlert! Smackdown — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:13:50 +0000

[...] Oh, and you want to know what’s really ironic? I’m #5 on a Google search for EurekAlert! (with and without the exclamation mark) with my positive review of their service. *sigh* [...]

By: Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD

Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:44:45 +0000

Hey Emily,

I’m sorry I missed responding to your comment although you can bet I read it. A lot has happened between me and EurekAlert! since this post, eh?

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:22:24 +0000

Yeah, I’m pretty sure the press releases posted by EurekAlert! are unvetted. I once picked one up with a headline that read something like “Chocolate chip cookies lower blood cholesterol,” and it turned out to be, basically, a thinly veiled advertising piece for some (probably yucky) cookies containing some kind of allegedly cholesterol-lowering dietary supplement. There was a suggestion of research presented, which looked none too solid, but no way to find out more.

And you’re right, I think the PR groups that write those things are hoping that writers will crib from them without much scrutiny.