The purpose of this dissertation is to reflect on the author’s published work in the field complementary and alternative medicine, specifically that produced between 1996 and 2005. It examines how the production of this work was influenced by the author’s previous and concurrent experience as a medical journalist and the methodological challenges arising from sourcing complementary and alternative medicine and framing for audiences of broadsheet newspapers and two books – The Which? Guide to Complementary Medicine and Alternative Answers to Asthma & Allergies. It explores how this work relates to scholarship in three key areas: the theory of sourcing, the theory of framing and the study of erroneous beliefs. The author demonstrates that a “perfect storm” – sociologically, culturally and economically – created a narrative that suited the new consumer-­‐driven cult of the empowered individual, which in turn led to most sectors of the print media becoming impervious to any real investigation of the subject.