Who to believe?

How often do we hear two contrary opinions from reasonably worthy sources, then jump on one side of the fence? The recent medical malpractice insurance debate is one example of what I mean. One group (apparently including CNN and Newsweek and thousands of striking doctors) claim that numerous uncapped malpractice suits are causing the insurance rates to skyrocket, driving doctors out of business. Another group (including a federal committee and several major newspapers) claims that states with caps are seeing faster rises in insurance premiums than non-cap states, and that malpractice suits have actually decreased while premiums have gone up. Certainly there is more to it than this breif summary, but how does one choose who to believe? And how much of it is new reporters making waves as a form of job security? News reporting is a cut-throat business, and sensationalism of contrary opinions seems to dominate the industry. Both sides claim there is a problem, but disagree as to the source, the details, and the solution. How do we, as news-consumers even know that there really is a problem, much less which side to believe?