Apply today: Midwest Health Journalism Program

This competitive program picks 10 journalists from Kansas and Missouri each year for special training sessions, mentoring and access to AHCJ conferences, workshops and resources. The program provides established journalists with the tools needed to improve the depth and amount of coverage focused on critical state and local health issues. Read what some of the 2007-08 fellows say about the experience and then apply – deadline is June 2.

Health Journalism 2008

• Conference highlights, tip sheets and webcasts

• Nearly 600 attendees gathered for conference

• Conference home page

Check back for more news, tip sheets and other conference materials. Many thanks to all of our conference speakers and participants for making this such a great conference! Please watch your e-mail for our electronic conference evaluation.

Conference highlights included a newsmaker briefing with actor Dennis Quaid about the medical error that threatened the lives of his twins, a roundtable with several of AHCJ's founding members, a newsmaker briefing with HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt about new hospital quality data, and the keynote speech from Elizabeth Edwards, in which she was quite candid in her critique of John McCain's health care plan.

Health reporters take stand against hospital confidentiality agreements Concerned by incidents in which hospitals have attempted to restrict newsgathering, the Association of Health Care Journalists strongly urges reporters to resist signing confidentiality agreements with hospitals. Confidentiality agreements typically aim to bar journalists from disclosing information they discover in the course of reporting at a facility, unless they obtain the hospital's approval. AHCJ has some guidelines on what to keep in mind when presented with such agreements and has posted confidentiality agreements from three hospitals.

2007 award winners named

An investigation into deaths in Georgia's psychiatric hospitals, a riveting examination of the way genetic screening tests have changed American life, and a look at the abysmal state of dental health in West Virginia are among the top winners of the latest Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. The 2007 awards recognize the best health reporting in 10 categories covering print, broadcast and online media. In its fourth year, the contest received nearly 400 entries.

Find out how they did it: Contest entrants were required to fill out questionnaires about how they reported their stories. Those completed questionnaires, with details about methods and sources, are available to AHCJ members.

Lieberman: Candidates' health reform language needs closer scrutiny, definition

The health care vocabulary of the presidential campaign includes terms such as "socialized medicine," "universal," "comprehensive," "guaranteed," "mandate," "coverage," "care" and "choice." Journalists pick up these terms, weave them in their stories, and telegraph a meaning that politicians want, although it may not be the same as the one in the dictionary. AHCJ President Trudy Lieberman calls on journalists to pin down the candidates and explain what the words mean before we let them get away with a smorgasbord of empty terms.

Election 2008: Ron Paul, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton submitted answers to the questions you, our members, posed regarding their positions on health care. As the 2008 presidential campaign intensifies, AHCJ is tracking the candidates' positions on health care issues. Use our chart and more in-depth pages to see where the candidates stand on access to health care and links to their health care plans.

Guidelines strengthen AHCJ's commitment to journalism

As AHCJ has grown in recent years, we've attracted interest from talented individuals from a variety of media organizations. Increasingly, however, we've also been receiving applications from professionals who work in public relations, health education and other fields. From our founding, we have been an association of health care JOURNALISTS, and for that reason the board recently updated our membership guidelines to clarify membership eligibility.

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