Fellowship supports reporting on health systems
The Association of Health Care Journalists is launching a fellowship program to help journalists understand and report on the performance of local health care systems and the U.S. health system as a whole. The AHCJ Media Fellowships on Health Performance, supported by The Commonwealth Fund, provides for training as well as field reporting assistance.
The program for mid-career journalists is intended to give print, broadcast and online reporters an opportunity to learn about examples of high-performing health care systems, to focus on innovations in care delivery, and to explore a system or its significant parts to determine what makes that system effective or ineffective. Fellows will be able to examine providers of care, insurers, regulators and policymakers.
The Commonwealth Fund grant will cover the costs of fellows attending two customized seminars in New York, the annual conference of AHCJ, a regional health journalism workshop and up to $6,000 in individual field reporting and research support. Fellows also will receive mentor support and individual consultation on their projects.
“Too often, reporters are asked to write about their local health and health care systems without the benefit of being able to compare them with others around the country,” said Charles Ornstein, president of the AHCJ board of directors and a senior reporter at ProPublica. “Thanks to this generous grant, the fellowship attempts to remedy that by providing reporters with the resources and tools needed to provide the context necessary for their communities.”
Applications for the four 2010-2011 fellowships are being accepted until July 9.
For more information and to apply:
• Press release
• Understanding and applying for the fellowship
• 2010-2011 application form
Members provide more coverage of #ahcj2010
A number of AHCJ members volunteered to write about Health Journalism 2010 for AHCJ.
Many others used information they learned at the conference to write stories for their own publications.
We’re in the process of compiling those reports, as well as photos and video from the conference. Visit our conference news page to read more about the event.
Video from Health Journalism 2010
- During a newsmaker briefing, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius discussed the role of health journalists in communicating about the H1N1 pandemic and health reform to the public.
- In a panel about “Guidelines for writing about preventive health guidelines,” Len Lichtenfeld, M.D., M.A.C.P., deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, acknowledged the difficulty of conveying changing guidelines.
Coverage from Health Journalism 2010
- Contaminated foods post threat to public
- Experts acknowledge difficulty of writing about preventive health guidelines
- TBI, PTSD among war-related illnesses veterans face
- Untold stories remain in nursing homes
- Addressing racial and ethnic disparities
- High hopes, limited regulation a dangerous formula for ‘functional foods’
- Looking for docs in all the wrong places?
- Caring for aging population will require health care transformation
- Sebelius predicts ‘hand-to-hand combat’ on health law
- What did the U.S. learn from the H1N1 pandemic?
- Experts: Where you live affects your health
- Journalists encounter obstacles in identifying conflicts of interest in medical research
- Session focuses tracking health care costs using the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care
- Photos from Field Trip 1, at the simulation center at Feinberg School of Medicine
Coverage of #ahcj2010 continues
• Sebelius predicts ‘hand-to-hand combat’ on health law
• What did the U.S. learn from the H1N1 pandemic?
• Journalists encounter obstacles in identifying conflicts of interest in medical research
• Experts: Where you live affects your health
• Session focuses tracking health care costs using the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care
• Photos from the simulation center at Feinberg School of Medicine
AHCJ has resources for World Tuberculosis Day
Filed under: Hot Health Headline, Public health, Studies, Tools
In honor of World Tuberculosis Day, an awareness day organized by the Stop TB Partnership, here’s a roundup of the latest in TB as well as some handy background information.
AHCJ New York City Metro chapter’s discussion on TB as a global health problem: Discussion covered all strains of tuberculosis and considered the root socioeconomic causes of the disease. The article is accompanied by audio from expert presentations given at the meeting, as well as copies of the presentations themselves. Article by Sibyl Shalo, presenters included Chrispin Kambili, M.D., (assistant commissioner and director, Bureau of Tuberculosis Control, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene), Donald J. McNeil Jr. (science and health reporter for The New York Times), Lee Reichman, M.D., M.P.H., (executive director, New Jersey Medical School Global Tuberculosis Institute), Mel Spigelman, M.D., (president and CEO, Tuberculosis Alliance) and Janice Hopkins Tanne (journalist and co-author with Reichman of “Timebomb: The Global Epidemic of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis”).
Decrease in Reported Tuberculosis Cases
From the CDC’s weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report
Read it because: It’s a comprehensive summary of the present state of TB in America, packed with stats and even a little analysis.
Key paragraph:
For 2009, a total of 11,540 tuberculosis cases were reported in the United States. The TB rate was 3.8 cases per 100,000 population, a decrease of 11.4% from the rate of 4.2 per 100,000 reported for 2008. The 2009 rate showed the greatest single-year decrease ever recorded and was the lowest recorded rate since national TB surveillance began in 1953.
Drug-resistant tuberculosis now at record levels
From the World Health Organization
Read it because: It’s 71 pages (the important stuff begins on page 13) of statistics, research and anecdotes covering drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis worldwide.
Key paragraph:
… it is estimated that 440 000 people had MDR-TB worldwide in 2008 and that a third of them died. In sheer numbers, Asia bears the brunt of the epidemic. Almost 50% of MDR-TB cases worldwide are estimated to occur in China and India. In Africa, estimates show 69 000 cases emerged, the vast majority of which went undiagnosed.
And, some quick fact sheets:
World Health Organization TB resources
NIH: Definitions of different TB strains
NIH: Roundup of current TB research efforts
CDC tuberculosis resources
Call for entries: Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism
Be recognized for your best work.
The Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism recognize the best health reporting in print, broadcast and online media. Entries can include a wide range of health coverage including public health, consumer health, medical research, the business of health care and health ethics.
Deadlines
Early-bird (discounted): Dec. 18
Regular: Jan. 22, 2010
Last year’s winners included a reporter’s revelation of astonishing conflicts of interest by scientists advocating for early detection of lung cancer, the exploration of a hidden world of illegal prescription drugs sold at swap meets, a narrative on a mechanic seeking to rebuild his life after an accident severed his arms, and a trip into the nightmarish world of a boy struggling with mental illness.
The contest was created by journalists for journalists and is not influenced or funded by commercial or special-interest groups.
MRSA project earns AHCJ member an award
The National Association of Science Writers awarded AHCJ member Michael Berens the Science in Society Journalism Award for his part in the November 2008 series “Culture of Resistance,” a tale of the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) through Washington that Berens wrote with fellow Seattle Times reporter Ken Armstrong. Berens and Armstrong uses databases and public records to chronicle the resistant bacteria’s rapid spread.
The press release quoted a judge as praising their work thus: “Although we’re awarding for local coverage, I think this piece has also had a rather profound national impact as well.”
AHCJ board names new officers
The AHCJ board of directors elected a new set of officers to take their seats at the upcoming fall board meeting.
Charles Ornstein of ProPublica was selected as president, Karl Stark of The Philadelphia Inquirer was named vice president, Ivan Oransky of Reuters Health was named treasurer and Julie Appleby of Kasier Health News was named secretary. Trudy Lieberman, board president for the past five years, assumes the new role of immediate past president.
A new board was seated after July elections by the entire AHCJ membership. The board members then voted on officers.
Other members of the board of directors are Felice J. Freyer of The Providence Journal; Phil Galewitz of Kaiser Health News; Andrew Holtz, a Portland, Ore., independent journalist; Carla K. Johnson of The Associated Press; Maryn McKenna, an independent journalist and author; Mike Stobbe of The Associated Press; and Irene Wielawski, an independent journalist from Pound Ridge, N.Y.
The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. Its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. AHCJ is housed at the Missouri School of Journalism.
Health Journalism 2010 will be in Chicago
Just announced: AHCJ’s annual conference will be at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago, April 22-25. We’ve secured a $139 room rate for attendees. Local and national AHCJ committees are starting the planning process. Ideas for sessions or workshops are welcome – submit them online.
More details will be shared in the weeks ahead, but set these dates aside now for the best annual training event in health journalism.
AHCJ membership elects new board members
Members of the Association of Health Care Journalists elected two new names to the AHCJ board of directors and returned four incumbents to their posts for the 2009-11 term.
Felice J. Freyer of The Providence Journal and Maryn McKenna, an independent journalist and author, were selected to join the board. Incumbents Charles Ornstein of ProPublica, Karl Stark of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Carla K. Johnson of The Associated Press and Andrew Holtz, a Portland, Ore., independent journalist, were returned to the board.
They join board members elected last year for two-year terms: Trudy Lieberman of City University of New York, Ivan Oransky of Reuters Health, Mike Stobbe of The Associated Press, Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News, Irene Wielawski an independent journalist from Pound Ridge, N.Y., and Phil Galewitz of Kaiser Health News.
Board members will select officers in the coming weeks. Current officers are Lieberman (president), Ornstein (vice president), Stark (treasurer) and Mary Chris Jaklevic (secretary), who chose not to run again.
The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. Its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. AHCJ is housed at the Missouri School of Journalism.
TVWeek turns spotlight on health journalism (#ahcj09)
TVWeek special correspondents Debra Kaufman, Allison J. Waldman and Elizabeth Jensen all contributed stories to the magazine’s in-depth coverage of health journalism, AHCJ and Health Journalism 2009. The 20-story package touches on just about every facet of the profession, from discussions of the economic state of health care journalism to profiles of AHCJ award winners and prominent television health care journalists.
Many of the stories print a grim picture of the profession’s future and present. From Under the Knife: Despite Increased Interest in Medical Issues, Media Outlets Are Cutting Health Care Coverage:
A March report to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “The State of Health Care Journalism” by Gary Schwitzer, associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication, reveals the extent of the damage.
The report was based on a review of published research on health journalism and a survey of almost 260 AHCJ members conducted by KFF and AHCJ, as well as Mr. Schwitzer’s one-on-one interviews with more than 50 journalists who work (or worked) for TV stations, newspapers, radio, magazines or Web sites.
Mr. Schwitzer reported that the average length of TV news pieces is dropping below 45 seconds. Nine out of 10 journalists said bottom-line pressure is “seriously hurting the quality of health news coverage” and 39% said it was very likely or somewhat likely their position would be eliminated in the next three years.
At the same time, the report also showed that the news hole for TV health journalism—between 7% and 11% of airtime—has remained stable over the last 10 years. In fact, twice as many journalists (38%) said the amount of health coverage had increased as said it had gone down (18%).
On the bright side, AHCJ Board of Directors President Trudy Lieberman believes the AHCJ 2009 conference in Seattle will help members, many of whom have lost their jobs, adapt to the changing market for health care journalism.
She believes panels at the conference on topics such as learning multimedia tools—social networking, blogging your beat, getting and using audio for Web reports, free online tools for better storytelling—will be as valuable as the myriad of health and medical stories that attendees can take home to report.
Profiles of selected AHCJ award winners
- First place for Television: Polio Fight Wins the Prize for RLTV: ‘Healthline Presents’ Documentary Explores a Hard-Won Postwar Battle
- Second place for Television: Care-less in the U.S.: Al Jazeera Report Takes an In-Depth Look at the Country’s Uninsured and Underinsured
- Third place for Television: ‘Newshour’ Looks at ‘the End’: Terminal Cancer Patients Find Doctors Reluctant to Discuss Issue
- First place for Online: Digging Deep: Center for Public Integrity Reporters Mine EPA Database for Harm Caused by Pesticides
Stories of specific interest to AHCJ members
- AHCJ board members and other experts discuss the difficulty of covering health reform and government health policy on television given the time restraints inherent in the medium and format. Trudy Lieberman, in particular, takes certain television reports to task for not providing key background information and context.
- AHCJ panel addresses, defines those underserved by available health care options.
- AHCJ board member Andrew Holtz urges reporters to use all sources carefully and recognize their limitations, whether they be websites or M.D.s.
Other stories of interest
- Losing Voice of Experience: Layoffs Make It Harder to Cover Health Care Accurately, Thoroughly
- Getting Camera-Ready: Medical Communicators Group Helps Health Care Pros Handle the Spotlight
- Newsmags Still Out Front: Network Stalwarts Keep Breaking Ground With World-Class Reports
- CNN’S Cohen: Keeping Health News Simple; Veteran Makes Complex Issues Easy to Grasp
- ‘Hidden America’ Put Focus on Kids: Sawyer’s ‘20/20’ Report Exposed Hard Life in Region
- Experience Counts for CBS’ Dr. Lapook: Correspondent Draws Lessons From His Practice
- Following Primetime’s Lead: ‘House’ Gives Fox Affiliates Fodder for Developing Health Stories
- The ‘Get’ of the Season: Octomom; Medical ‘Miracle’ Story Turns Into Tabloid Tempest
- PhRMA‘S ‘Miracles’ Show Goes Online for Global Audience
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Join us in Omaha to find untold rural health stories
New at HealthJournalism.org
- AHCJ offers financial data about nonprofit hospitals
- Diversity in aging: Putting gray in the rainbow
- Southeast journalists eligible for regional fellowship program
- AHCJ-NLM Health Journalism Fellowship offers hands-on medical research training
- AHCJ announces 2011 winners of top health journalism awards
