How misinformation erodes public health—and how new media innovations can help create healthier communities.
The erosion of local news, the polarization of national media, and the rising flood of misinformation continue to jeopardize public health and trust. In Information Sick, Joanne Kenen, Lymari Morales, and Joshua M. Sharfstein, MD, examine the dire consequences of a fractured information ecosystem, where misinformation spreads unchecked and undermines science, policy, and health.
The authors trace the decline of traditional news structures and the rise of new challenges, including the dangerous spread of disinformation on social media and the lack of accountability in digital spaces. These shifts have left communities uninformed about critical public health issues—from vaccination campaigns to climate change—while eroding confidence in the institutions meant to protect them. Yet Information Sick also offers a message of resilience and innovation. The authors highlight emerging media efforts that focus on public interest journalism, equitable reporting, and sustainable business models. From nonprofit newsrooms to an information playbook for public health, these examples show how the information ecosystem can be rebuilt to support a healthier society.
Case studies bring these efforts to life, offering concrete solutions for fostering trust, enhancing transparency, and re-establishing the medias role as a cornerstone of public health advocacy. Designed for public health leaders, policymakers, students, advocates, and anybody who wants to know more about the dangerous erosion of trustworthy health news Information Sick equips readers with tools to navigate the modern information landscape and take meaningful steps to counter misinformation and strengthen public health communication.
Joanne Kenen is a nationally known health journalist, writer, and public speaker focused on health policy and public health.
Lymari Morales is a communications executive whose work blends timeless journalism tactics with modern digital strategies.
Joshua M. Sharfstein, MD, is a pediatrician by training, a former health commissioner, and a professor of the practice in health policy and management.
Table of Contents Preface Introduction: Information Sick 1. The Collapse of Local News 2. The Fracturing of National News 3. The Flood of Misinformation 4. The Innovators 5. By and For: The Rise in Community Journalism 6. The Playbook 7. Protecting Yourself-And Others
How misinformation erodes public health-and how new media innovations can help create healthier communities.
In an era of declining trust and zero-cost misinformation, Information Sick offers a bracing diagnosis of how Americas broken media ecosystem is making us sicker—literally. Joanne Kenen, Lymari Morales, and Joshua Sharfstein trace the collapse of local journalism and the rise of disinformation with urgency and clarity, showing how these forces endanger lives and undermine public health.
—Dave A. Chokshi, 43rd Health Commissioner of New York City
The nation will never again tune in as one to Walter Cronkite every night. But there are answers to misinformation and declining trust, and this book finds them, powerfully. Its the first to tell the story of a growing, unheralded field fighting back to try to reclaim facts and the truth.
—Drew Altman, President and CEO, KFF
Co-authored with a national public health leader and a leading health care journalist, Information Sick is an engaging, readable, and practical guide to the perplexing and contentious world of health information in the United States. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to make health better in the United States and for clinicians who must guide their patients through the raging debates about what works and doesnt in modern medicine and public health.
—David Blumenthal, Harvard University
