Commentary: The pen is mightier than the scalpel. Commentary on the paper – Public trust, and accountability for clinical performance: lessons from the national press reporting of the Bristol hearing (H.T.O. Davies and A.V. Shields, Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 5, 335–342).

Comments on an article on populist journalism, in relation to a court hearing in Bristol, England in 1998. Excerpt from an editorial on professional self-regulation; Issue surrounding the revalidation of doctors by Great Britain's General Medical Council; Criticism against the practice of journalism.