Lathrop to oversee public databases in Dallas
AHCJ member Daniel Lathrop, who has been the chief digital strategist for InvestigateWest since its July 2009 launch, will be joining the Dallas Morning News on March 22 as its first news applications editor.
Lathrop will help the paper identify and obtain databases of public information. He also will be responsible for producing the interfaces through which readers can use those databases.
Lathrop is co-editor of the just-released book “Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice,” published by O’Reilly media.
Welcome to the latest journalists to join AHCJ
AHCJ welcomes these new members:
- Alsy Acevedo, reporter, El Sentinel-Orlando Sentinel Communications; Orlando, Fla.
- Robin Adams, senior reporter, The Ledger; Lakeland, Fla.
- Ada Alvarez, independent journalist; North Miami, Fla.
- Antigone Barton, independent journalist; Lantana, Fla.
- Manu Bhandari, student, University of Missouri; Columbia, Mo.
- David Boddiger, independent journalist; Chicago
- Suzanne Bohan, science reporter, Contra Costa Times/Bay Area News Group; Richmond, Calif.
- April Choi, student, University of Missouri; Columbia, Mo.
- Megan Clancy, staff writer, California State University, Long Beach; Dana Point, Calif.
- Sonya Collins, student, University of Georgia, Grady College of Journalism; Athens, Ga.
- Claudia Collucci, student, University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, Mich.
- Monya De, student, University of California, Los Angeles; Santa Monica, Calif.
- Hannah Douglas, student, Truman State University; Springfield, Ill.
- Carrie Feibel, health/science reporter, KUHF Houston Public Radio News; Houston
- Antonio Flores-Lobos, editor, Las Noticias; Kingston, N.Y.
- Sylvia Forbes, independent journalist; Fayette, Mo.
- Kathleen Frey, student, University of Georgia; Athens, Ga.
- Denise Fulton, executive editor, IMNG/Elsevier; Kensington, Md.
- Landon Hall, health reporter, The Orange County Register; Santa Ana, Calif.
- Charles Hallman, reporter, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder; Minneapolis, Minn.
- Smith W. Hartley, editor-in-chief, Healthcare Journal of Baton Rouge; Baton Rouge, La.
- James Hataway, student, University of Georgia; Athens, Ga.
- Markian Hawryluk, reporter, Bend Bulletin; Bend, Ore.
- Duke Helfand, editor/staff writer, Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles
- Jessica Hook, student, University of Oregon; Eugene, Ore.
- Devin Katayama, student, Columbia College-Chicago; Chicago
- Toni Lapp, founder/editor, Spectrumconnection.net; Kansas City, Mo.
- Noam Levey, Washington health policy reporter, Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau; Washington, D.C.
- Russell Luce, student, Truman State University; Kirksville, Mo.
- Jessica Machetta, broadcast journalist, Learfield Communications, Inc.; Jefferson City, Mo.
- Chasity Mayes, student, Missouri State University; Springfield, Mo.
- Mason McCoy, student, Truman State University; Kirksville, Mo.
- Sarah Moore, student, Truman State University; Fenton, Mo.
- Adi Narayan, independent journalist; Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Victor Perez, director, Radio Kuva Inc.; Gainesville, Fla.
- Ernesto Portillo Jr., editor, La Estrella de Tucson; Tucson, Ariz.
- Belinda Puetz, editor-in-chief, Journal for Nurses in Staff Development; Cantonment, Fla.
- Dave Raiford, asst. managing editor, HealthLeaders-Interstudy; Nashville, Tenn.
- Farida Romero, associate producer/reporter, Radio Bilingue; Berkeley, Calif.
- Ryan Sabalow, health reporter, Redding Record Searchlight; Redding, Calif.
- Sananda Sahoo, student, University of Missouri; Washington, D.C.
- Stephanie Schupska, graduate student, University of Georgia; Athens, Ga.
- Gale Scott, independent journalist; Cranbury, N.J.
- Julie Sneider, independent journalist; Waukesha, Wis.
- Jean Virgile Tasse Themes, graduate student, Columbia University-Chicago; Chicago
- Conjivaram Vidya Shankar, independent journalist; Chennai, India
- Kelly Von Lunen, editor/health reporter, VFW Magazine; Kansas City, Mo.
- Stacy Weiner, health writer, Dell Perot; Fairfax, Va.
- Daniel Weintraub, editor, HealthyCal.org; Sacramento, Calif.
- Linda Wilson, independent journalist; McHenry, Ill.
- Fernaudo Zapari, editor, El Mexicano Newspaper; Fort Wayne, Ind.
- Erica Zucco, student, University of Missouri; Columbia, Mo.
If you haven’t joined yet, see what member benefits you’re missing out on: Access to more than 50 journals and databases, tip sheets and articles from your colleagues on how they’ve reported stories, conferences, workshops, online training, reporting guides and more. Join AHCJ today to get a wealth of support and tools to help you.
PR specialist: Health journalists have critical role
Health journalists may be surprised to find support from Paul Oestreicher, a marketing communications consultant and adjunct professor at New York University with experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
Oestreicher makes the case that the health care industry has a vested interest in increasing the public’s health and science literacy - something he says will be supported by “news outlets being repopulated with professional journalists to help carry information forward.”
Though the pharmaceutical industry has suffered from behavioral, communication and performance missteps that have lowered reputation, it is low health literacy among consumers and the decline of science journalism that are fundamental to this problem.
Oestreicher cites numbers that show the pharmaceutical industry is suffering from a poor reputation that will only be helped by the public’s ability to evaluate medical facts and evidence. He also cites articles and a survey done by AHCJ and the Kaiser Family Foundation about the critical need for journalists who understand scientific studies and statistics.
Professional health and science journalists must help to communicate the progress and the failures, and to differentiate the facts and evidence from the frauds and junk science. Unfortunately, we’ve seen surveys confirm what we already know about the state of health and science journalism over the past few months. It’s a shrinking, wounded profession. We know the symptoms – they’ve been well documented. Like the global economy, journalism needs a recovery plan.
WebMD, Eli Lilly and a quiz about depression
Filed under: Conflicts of interest, Health journalism
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the prolific writer of public letters who often assumes the mantle of health consumer advocate, is at it again. This time he’s taking on consumer health information giant WebMD, whose ties with Eli Lilly seem to stretch back for some time. At issue is a WebMD quiz that purported to determine a user’s risk of depression. The fishy part? Until WebMD modified the quiz following Grassley’s letter and other outcry, even users who answered “no” to every question would be given the warning that “You may be at risk for major depression.”
As Daniel Carlat points out on his blog, the following disclaimer appeared at the top of the page: “This content is selected and controlled by WebMD’s editorial staff and is funded by Lilly USA.” As Carlat points out, 9 of the 10 symptoms in the quiz are taken from standard diagnostic criteria, but the one that isn’t (which relates to physical pain) just happens to dovetail perfectly with the pain-relief market Lilly is trying to carve out for Cymbalta.
Because Lilly markets Cymbalta as the “go to” antidepressant for patients who have both depression and physical pain. This is not really a “depression screening test” at all. Instead, it is a “Cymbalta-requester” screening test.
WebMD is telling the public a big lie. The say that “this content is selected and controlled by WebMD’s editorial staff” when in fact the crucial aches and pains questions was selected by Eli Lilly’s marketing team to encourage patients to ask their doctors for Cymbalta.
Grassley’s letter requested that WebMD respond with the details of their relationship to Eil Lilly by March 4. I didn’t find any evidence that such a response has yet been received.
Kidney swap connects six in small Mo. town
Filed under: Health journalism, Hospitals, Hot Health Headline
Joy Robertson of KOLR-Springfield, Mo., tells the story of the coincidences and generosity that led to six residents of Licking, Mo., (population 1,471) swapping kidneys in a St. Louis hospital. Here’s a quick timeline, to give you an idea of how it all came together.
- Licking resident Stephanie Hood needed a kidney.
- Friends Randy and Melissa Lewis wanted to donate one for her, but neither was a match.
- Randy decided to donate his kidney anyway.
- Carrie Goforth, a 29-year-old Licking mother on dialysis, was a match for Randy.
- Meanwhile, Melissa Lewis decided to donate her kidney as well.
- Hers went to Gern Beasley, another Licking resident.
- Finally, Stephanie Hood, the patient who started it all, also got the kidney she needed. Her donor? Her cousin Diane. From Licking.
Reporting on kidney donation
Josephine Marcotty of the Minneapolis Star Tribune recently wrote a series addressing the increasing demand for kidneys, a need spurred by an aging population, increases in diabetes, obesity and high-blood pressure. In a recent AHCJ article, she explained how the story came together and how other reporters can follow in her footsteps and expand upon her work.
ProPublica guides reporters to check local boards
Filed under: Government, Health data, Health journalism, Nursing, Public records, Tools
For those of you who have followed the ongoing investigation ProPublica’s Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber have done into nurses and whether states are reporting disciplinary actions, you might have a chance to localize the story.
ProPublica has posted a guide, “Reporting Recipe: How You Can Investigate Your State’s Oversight of Its Nurses and Other Licensed Professionals,” to help reporters and the public check up on what’s happening in their states.
ProPublica editor-in-chief Paul Steiger and managing editor Stephen Engelberg, explain why they are providing the reporters’ techniques and insights:
We hope that others will use the techniques created by Ornstein and Weber to hold local officials accountable. Reporters who look into the local boards that oversee nurses or other health professionals will make new discoveries, some of which will undoubtedly go beyond what we have found. That, in turn, will help others push the story ahead. We hope statehouse reporters, beat reporters, general assignment reporters, bloggers, citizen journalists and others will use this road map.
Use the state-by-state guide prepared by Ornstein (also president of AHCJ’s board of directors) and Weber that shows what information is available to the public in each state and specific things to look for in the records.
They have used the data to identify some states that appear to be inconsistent in reporting disciplinary actions against medical professionals. If you are covering any of these states, you should probably be looking into the story yourself:
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinios
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- Wisconsin
- West Virginia
Health care reporting among SABEW winners
Health care reporting fared well in this year’s Society of American Business Editors and Writers Best in Business Writing competition as the business of health care took center stage in many publications and earned awards for both breaking news and in-depth packages. The health-related winners:
Breaking news
Real-time News Organizations
- Dow Jones Newswires: “Deep Coverage On Drug Deal”
- Reuters: “H1N1 Flu: The Global Story”
Enterprise
Small Publications
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune: “Contaminated Chinese drywall”
Weekly Publications
- Pittsburgh Business Times: “Eli Lilly details payments to docs”
Projects
Giant Publications
- The New York Times: “Toxic Waters”
Large Publications
- Dallas Morning News: “The Cost of Care”
Magazine Enterprise
Small
- Bloomberg Markets: “Big Pharma’s Crime Spree”
Sourcebook expands ideas for local reporting
The latest version of the Covering Health Issues sourcebook has been updated with even more examples of how reporters have used it for local stories. For example, the section on Mental Health and Substance Abuse links to nine related stories and four additional related resources. Those stories included cuts to Tennessee’s mental health agency, a profile of aMichigan troupe that blends acting and therapy and possible changes to mental health care for inmates in California’s Ventura County.
It’s a handy place to check when you’re looking for examples of how to localize certain topics, especially since you’ll also be to pull relevant facts and background from the accompanying chapter of the sourcebook.
The print version of the sourcebook was distributed to AHCJ members last year.
Grand Rounds points to end-of-life posts
AHCJ member Larry Beresford hosts the Palliative Care Grand Rounds this month and has compiled an impressive roundup of end-of-life blogs and related posts.
Highlighted sites include a blog from the American Academy of Hospices and Palliative Medicine, a blog that’s looking for hospice and palliative care professionals to become guest bloggers, one - irreverantly named “Death Club for Cuties” - for nurses who care for patients and families at the end of life, posts about do-not-resuscitate orders and more.
See Beresford’s post for all the links and details.
List of 2009’s best includes health care stories
Conor Friedersdorf of TrueSlant.com includes a number of health-care related stories among his list of best journalism of 2009. See his post for links and comments about each of his choices:
- “AIDS Relief and Moral Myopia” by Travis Kavulla in The New Atlantis
- ProPublica’s Sheri Fink’s piece, “Strained by Katrina, a Hospital Faced Deadly Choices,” which appeared in The New York Times Magazine
- “Brain Gain” in The New Yorker by Margaret Talbot
- “An Epidemic of Fear,” in Wired, by Amy Wallace
- The New Yorker piece, “The Cost Conundrum,” by Atul Gawande
- “How American Health Care Killed My Father,” by David Goldhill, writing for The Atlantic
- “Fine Print,” for the radio program This American Life
- This American Life also gets a nod for a two-part broadcast explaining the American health care system
- “Game Drain” by Jeanne Marie Laskas in GQ
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Health Journalism 2010, AHCJ's annual conference, features a world-class program with story ideas, sources, stronger reporting skills, chances to meet newsmakers and network with other journalists.
- Health and education: Covering these intersecting beats
- Reporting on the business of health care
- Health reporting resources for journalists on state and local government beats
- Shortened Lives: How location, lifestyle affect health
- Covering a complex story for the long haul
- Aging in the 21st Century: Presentations and tip sheets
- AHCJ calls for better information from Joint Commission Web site
