AHCJ to Obama: Improve access to federal experts
The Association of Health Care Journalists has urged President Barack Obama to end inherited policies that require public affairs officers to approve journalists’ interviews with federal staff.
Such policies, which are in place at such critical agencies as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and most agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services, hamper newsgathering and make it difficult for reporters to fulfill their obligation to hold government agencies accountable, AHCJ said in a letter to the Obama administration.
Federal public information officers can play a key role in facilitating and coordinating communication, but have been used in recent years to inhibit the flow of information to the public rather than foster it. AHCJ members have reported waiting for days for permission to conduct an interview, or have had requests ignored or denied entirely.
Read the full statement and see the letter (PDF) that was sent to Obama.
Businesses, lobbyists profit from Texas system
The Dallas Morning News is running a four-part series about Texas’ poor treatment of the vulnerable:
“Texas has long been hard on the weak and vulnerable. It fares badly in national surveys of child poverty, food assistance and care for the mentally ill and disabled.
“But it isn’t only the poor and afflicted who need help; everyone relies on state government for some protection.
“Not everyone receives it.”
The first part looks at the privatization of programs for the poor, disabled and elderly, finding that private companies, lobbyists and former state officials are profiting even as complaints about the programs grow.
Reporter Gregg Jones write about Evercare, a program that is “supposed to coordinate medical and long-term care for more than 80,000 elderly, blind or disabled North Texans.”
Part two of the series, about health care corporations trying to limit public access to information, is scheduled to run Jan. 11 & 12. Part three, focusing on environmental concerns, will run Jan. 18 & 19. Part four, about the high insurance premiums Texans pay for reduced coverage, will be Jan. 25.
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