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.
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.
Doctor/blogger: Can’t depend on science reporting
Val Jones, M.D., a blogger at Science-Based Medicine and president and CEO of a health education company, tees off on media coverage of science in a post titled “Why You Can’t Depend On The Press For Science Reporting.”
Jones writes about a recent encounter with a reporter writing about holistic treatments. The reporter interviewed Jones about energy healing and alternative medicine because a local hospital is offering therapeutic touch and Reiki healing treatments.
Jones, who documented the interview – or at least the “essence” of the interview – on the blog, says the final article didn’t include “a single word” of what she said and that the piece is:
full of the usual pseudoscientific arguments: anecdotal evidence, mistrust of scientific methods, a call to “open-mindedness,” an emphasis on “natural” as being synonymous with “safe and effective,” and an “everybody’s doing it, even academic medical centers” rationale for adoption. There was no dissenting opinion – just an unquestioning acceptance of energy medicine.
Jones’ skepticism about journalists’ ability to cover science in a fact- and evidence-based way is clear: “Thank goodness we’re no longer beholden to mainstream media for all our health news and commentary.”
She calls for scientists and health care professionals to “step up to the plate” and contribute to “unedited” outlets such as Science-Based Medicine because “Waiting for reporters to include us in the discourse could take a very long time…”
The comments on the post – now up to 30 – are interesting, with many reinforcing Jones’ view that journalists in general do a poor job. But there are some, such as one from “Fifi” that points out this particular reporter was probably not a science or health writer and was probably writing a “fluff” piece for a lifestyles section. Other commenters point out that it really does depend on who the reporter is.
So, Covering Health readers, what would you tell Jones about how you report science and health news? Do you see the same problems she does or is her generalization unfair?
Majority of journalists are using social media
A survey by a George Washington University researcher and a public relations metrics firm found that reporters and editors rely heavily on social media. In case you haven’t seen any of the recent coverage, here are a few interesting numbers (pulled along with some accompanying text from the press release).
For research:
- 89 percent use blogs
- 65 percent use social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn
- 52 percent use microblogging services such as Twitter
- 61 percent use Wikipedia
- 84 percent said social media sources were “slightly less” or “much less” reliable than traditional media
- 49 percent said social media suffers from “lack of fact checking, verification and reporting standards”
Reasons journalists use PR professionals
- 44 percent use them for “interviews and access to sources and experts”
- 23 percent use them for “answers to questions and targeted information”
- 17 percent use them for “perspective, information in context, and background information”
Oransky: Find sources with outside perspective
AHCJ Treasurer Ivan Oransky, M.D., who’s also the executive editor of Reuters Health and a teacher at NYU, stopped by Ed Yong’s “Not Exactly Rocket Science” blog to offer his tips for finding sources when reporting on studies.
Oransky writes that the key is to focus on a source that provides outside perspective, not just on a source that provides an opposing viewpoint. Sometimes, Oransky says, that outside perspective will simply reinforce what the study’s authors have said. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
He also gives practical directions for finding knowledgeable sources, with specific suggestions both for reporters on deadline and for those who have the luxury of reporting things out a little.
Member news: New book; new Web site
“Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice,” a new book published by O’Reilly media, was edited by AHCJ member Daniel Lathrop and Laurel Ruma. Lathrop is chief digital strategist for InvestigateWest.
Journalist Daniel Weintraub has launched HealthyCal.org, a nonprofit Web site focused on news about the health of Californians and their communities. The site is initially funded by the California Endowment and is staffed by contributing journalists and community members. Weintraub previously was a columnist and blogger at the Sacramento Bee.
Academics: Media added to reform confusion
Filed under: Health care reform, Health data, Hot Health Headline, Member news
Health News Florida’s Carol Gentry talked to journalism professors at three major Florida universities about the effect of media coverage on public perception of health care reform. The trio suggested that the media muddied the issue by focusing coverage on the political horse-race aspects while neglecting to invest the time necessary to fully explain the proposed legislation’s finer details.
In a column for AHCJ, Trudy Lieberman, the organization’s immediate past president has discussed some of the same shortcomings of health reform coverage. The academics say this is nothing new – many of the same issues surfaced during Clinton’s health reform push in the early ’90s, but say today’s fragmented media environment and 24-hour news cycle have certainly exacerbated matters.
[Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida journalism professor] said many Americans get their information from talk radio or blogs, “which are far less likely to provide balanced, complete information than are traditional news outlets, especially newspapers.”
“Even those who read newspapers may be getting far more information about the political strategies (of) the various stakeholders … than they are about what those proposals actually would mean for the average family,” Walsh-Childers continued.
Walsh-Childers praised NPR and The New York Times for their more thoughtful reform coverage, and said layoffs of experienced health reporters had likely weakened coverage at many outlets.
Gentry also cited surveys conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation which found that peoples’ opinions of reform changed when they were better informed of the bills’ actual components.
Surveyors found that while a majority said they were opposed to the legislation, support grew markedly when survey participants found out the major parts of the plan.
Three-fourths became more favorable when they heard about tax credits for small businesses and two-thirds liked what they heard about health exchanges, constraints on health insurers and plugging the Medicare prescription-drug “doughnut hole.”
Related
More columns by Lieberman about coverage of health reform:
- Putting a human face on McCain, Obama health plans
- Look for opportunities to localize the debate on national health reform
- If candidates won’t focus on aging issues, journalists better
- Candidates’ health reform language needs closer scrutiny, definition
- Journalists must do better to inform, educate public
Open government directive bears fruit, databases
Filed under: Government, Health data, Hospitals, Hot Health Headline, Public records, Tools
In December, 2009 Peter Orszag, director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, issued an Open Government Directive (original PDF here) requiring a number of agencies to “identify and publish online in an open format at least three high-value data sets” on Data.gov within 45 days. That deadline came on Jan. 22, and the resulting data sets have all been posted online. The beefiest and most immediately useful are those from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but we’ve also included other sets which could prove useful for health care journalists. Descriptions are taken directly from Data.gov.
Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans hospital report cards and safety reports
The VA has divided report cards (11 categories) and safety reports (4 categories) into topic-specific files, from Infrastructure to Nosocomial Infections. The best way to find what you’re looking for is to visit the Open Government Directive site and then scroll down to “Department of Veterans Affairs.”
FY08 Veterans Compensation and Pension by County
The Compensation and Pension by County dataset is a count of the number of veterans receiving disability compensation or pension payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The data is reported at the county level, by age group and by % disability rating.
Social Security disability claims
SSA Disability Claim Data
The dataset includes fiscal year data for initial claims for SSA disability benefits that were referred to a state agency for a disability determination. Specific data elements for each year and state include receipts, determinations, eligible population, and favorable determination rates.
SSA State Agency Workload Data
The dataset includes monthly data from October 2000 onwards concerning initial claims for SSA disability benefits that were referred to a state agency for a disability determination.
USDA nutrition data
MyPyramid Food Raw Data
MyPyramid Food Data provides information on the total calories; calories from solid fats, added sugars, and alcohol (extras); MyPyramid food group and subgroup amounts; and saturated fat content of over 1,000 commonly eaten foods with corresponding commonly used portion amounts.
USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
The USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 22 (SR22) is the major source of food composition data in the United States and provides the foundation for most public and private sector databases. SR22 contains nutrient data for over 7,500 food items for up to 143 food components, such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids.
Medicare
CY 2009 MTM Contact List
CMS approved contact list of Part D Sponsors in Medication Therapy Management Program (MTMP) which is in their plans’ benefit structure.
Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals Claims Listed by State
Total count of Claims received by Region, State and fiscal year. Appeals can be found here.
Part B National Summary Data File
The Medicare Part B National datasets are summarized by meaningful Health Care Common Procedure Coding/Current Procedural Terminology, (HCPC/CPT), code ranges. Each dataset displays the allowed services, allowed charges and payment amounts by HCPC/CPT codes and prominent modifiers.
Other
OSHA Data Initiative - Establishment Specific Injury and Illness Rates
Each year the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) collects work-related injury and illness data from employers within specific industry and employment size specifications. This data collection is called the OSHA Data Initiative or ODI. The data provided is used by OSHA to calculate establishment specific injury and illness incidence rates.
What else is there?
The “Tools” section of the site includes widgets and data-mining and extraction tools, applications, and other services to “provide the public with simple, application-driven access to Federal data with hyperlinks.” The “Geodata” section includes federal geospatial data with metadata and links to more detailed Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata information.
The site is soliciting comments about what datasets should be made available, so you can suggest more datasets here. The site also offers a tutorial.
Groups give Obama “A” for openness despite barriers between journalists, federal experts
Filed under: Government, Health journalism, Hot Health Headline, Public records
A coalition of reform groups, including Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters and U.S. PIRG, recently issued “A Report Card from Reform Groups on the Obama Administration’s Executive Branch Lobbying, Ethics and Transparency Reforms in 2009.” The administration gets high marks in a number of categories, including an “A” for open government. The report card, however, seems to overlook an issue of particular interest to health care journalists.
The groups praise the administration’s “unprecedented steps to implement Executive Branch transparency,” steps they said include the disclosure of official visits to the White House, the publication of stimulus and other government contracts online and the administration’s “presumption of disclosure” approach to FOIA requests. They also note a few shortcomings, including the administration’s reliance on Internet-only avenues of disclosure and time lags in the availability of some information.
According to AHCJ’s Right to Know Committee, there’s another shortcoming those reformers missed in their report card: Restricted access to federal employees. AHCJ has already requested that the administration reverse inherited policies that allow federal public information officers to restrict the access the public has to federal experts, and while committee representatives praised the administration’s move toward a more open government, they don’t think this particular obstructionist policy should be ignored.
By way of explanation, here’s an excerpt from a letter sent by Right to Known Committee Chair Felice Freyer and AHCJ President Charles Ornstein to the groups responsible for the report card.
… we wanted to make you aware of another issue the administration has yet to address: the continuing difficulty that journalists face in speaking with federal employees. Under policies that have intensified over the past 15 years, public information officers often block or delay our access to the people who have the facts needed to inform the public.
This is not just a matter of reporters looking to make their jobs easier. It’s a question of our ability to tell the public what federal employees are doing with taxpayers’ money and to report on important research and public health issues. Many times staff members are eager to talk with us, but they require permission from public information officers. The PIOs sometimes simply say “no.” Or they never call back. Or they tell the reporter to wait for the official news release. Many insist on listening in on interviews, ensuring that staff will stick to the “official story.”
List of lists: Top health stories of 2009
The end of the year brings us list after list of the best or top health and medical stories. Some of the more interesting:
USA Today: New bugs, scary food, bad drugs and a quiz: Test your knowledge of the year’s top health stories
HealthLeaders Media: 10 Weird Healthcare Stories of 2009
Fox News: Top Health Stories of 2009
Harvard Health Letter: The top health stories of 2009
CBS News: Top medical stories of 2009
ReportingonHealth’s William Heisel lists his favorite health stories of 2009
And a couple of organizations declared the end of the decade with their lists:
MSNBC.com: Top 10 health stories of the decade
Associated Content: Top Health Stories of the Decade and Why
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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
