Was the recent big news story about red wine responsible journalism? The way most media outlets reported was that you could eat a high-fat diet but if you drink red wine, it will reverse any damage that the diet causes. Here's an example of the way the story started out on CNN.com.

"Study: Fat, boozing mice stay healthy November 1, 2006 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Huge amounts of a red wine extract seemed to help obese mice eat a high-fat diet and still live a long and healthy life, suggests a new study that some experts are calling "landmark" research.

The big question is, can it work the same magic in humans?

Scientists say it's far too early to start swilling barrels of red wine. But they are calling the latest research promising and even "spectacular."

How many people read past this? I suspect not many. If they did, they would have discovered these additional facts:

"Astoundingly, the organs of the fat mice that got the wine extract looked normal when they shouldn't have, said study lead author Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School. And Sinclair said other preliminary work still being done in the lab shows the wine ingredient has promise in lengthening the life span of normal-sized mice, too."

And later:

"Sinclair has a financial stake in the research. He is co-founder of a pharmaceutical firm, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., which is in the middle of a study testing the safety of using the extract on humans for treatment of diabetes."

Most media outlets, particularly television, did not report this at all. Not that this automatically means that the research is tainted but in the interest of fairness, full disclosure should always be up front.

Full article here.