I was watching the Dec 23rd 2006 edition of The National on CBC Newsworld and I noticed a rather subtle, and I'm sure entirely co-incidental product placement. As health reporter Maureen Taylor closed out her segment, a logo for Lacoste was clearly visible on her scarf. Moments later, an advertisement for Lacoste was broadcast. Here are the screen caps I took:

Personally, I would be quite surprised to find out this was indeed product placement. I think it can be attributed to sheer co-incidence, perhaps noting the popularity of this brand. However regardless of the intent, it does suggest there should be a more conscious policy of which brands are displayed by on-air personalities.

Tangentially, when I mentioned this incident to a few friends, the conversation quickly turned to the tone and quality of health reporting on the CBC. Explicitly we observed that Maureen perhaps is not critical enough of the medical establishment when it comes to her work. She often carries the same authoritative (arguably patronizing) tone that most medical professionals use when speaking with lay people.

Personally, as someone with a chronic illness who is both highly critical of and equally dependent upon the medical establishment, I'd like to see health reporting that was a little more distanced from the powers-that-be in the health world.

The analogy would be to look at how political reporters cover the Government and Politicians. Nobody would ever accuse Keith Boag or Susan Bonner of being too cozy with the PMO. In fact, since the Harper Government took power, there has been quite an acrimonious relationship between the Ottawa press corps and the Prime Minister's Office.

I feel the same type of critical distance should and must exist between health reporter's like Maureen Taylor, and the body of established medicine, whether doctors, health officers, pharmaceutical companies, or whomever. Perhaps Maureen would argue that indeed she does offer a level of objectivity and distance from her subject material, however my friends and I disagree, and we think she needs to do way more to appear independent from the health establishment as it exists today.

Health is such an important issue for all of us, and health reporting needs to be far more critical of established sources if it genuinely seeks to serve the public (interest).