ISSUE

Spring 2003

Reporting on Health

Few topics receive more media attention today than the topic of health. Yet, in the view of some journalists, many of the stories being told about health are not ones journalists want to tell or that members of the public need to hear. As Andrew Holtz, a freelance health reporter and president of the Association for Health Care Journalists, observes, “… stories I think need to be told, are often not the ones that easily sell. My personal frustration is not the issue, but we should be concerned when journalists are inhibited from the work of sustaining an informed and involved citizenry.” – Melissa Ludtke, Editor

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Articles

Journalist’s Trade

An Education in How to Cover the Issues

In eight days, journalists gain knowledge and experience that improves coverage.
Larry Tye
May 1, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Lead Poisoning: A Failed Response and Sick Children

A team of reporters and a photographer tackle a familiar story with a new approach.
Judy Peet
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Reporting on America’s Widening Racial Health Gap

Using computer-assisted reporting, The Plain Dealer found the fault lines.
Dave Davis
March 15, 2003
Opinion

A Reporter Decides to Testify, Then Decides Against It

Students ask him, ‘Is a journalist not a human being?’
Bill Berkeley
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Public Health Reporting: After September 11th, It’s More Difficult

Important stories aren’t getting told, sources are hard to reach, and what was once public is now considered secret.
Madeline Drexler
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

The Anthrax Attacks

A journalist assesses what went wrong in coverage of this story.
Patricia Thomas
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Preparing for Bioterrorism Reporting

RELATED ARTICLE“The Anthrax Attacks”– Patricia ThomasIndividual reporters and the profession are adapting to a world where bioterrorism is no longer unthinkable. Some journalism schools have instituted courses such as “Covering…
Patricia Thomas
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

The Public Health Beat: What Is It? Why Is It Important?

‘To follow a public health story is to feel the classic pull of a mystery….’
M.A.J. McKenna
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Alcoholism: Its Origins, Consequences and Costs

A reporter’s journey into this story results in lessons learned—and a Pulitzer Prize.
Eric Newhouse
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Examining the Content of Health Care Reporting

Neither the health care system nor policies creating it receive coverage they deserve.
Felicia Mebane
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Frustrations on the Frontlines of the Health Beat

News organizations need to find spaces ‘to be homes for stories that are now often orphaned.’
Andrew Holtz
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Useful Lessons From Reporting the Anthrax Story

A journalist describes what happened and shares what he learned.
Sanjay Bhatt
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Covering the Quality of Health Care: A Resource Guide for Journalists

In 1997, about a half-dozen journalists gathered in Chicago one September weekend to form the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ). The founders shared a vision that such a group…
Melinda Voss
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Why Reporters and Editors Get Health Coverage Wrong

Health journalists need and want special training.
Melinda Voss
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

AIDS in Africa: A Story That Must Be Told

Reporters confront significant barriers, imposed by governments, editors and their own experiences, to accurately portray this health crisis.
Huntly Collins
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Reporting on HIV/AIDS in Kenya

‘Medical experts are not willing to release the information to the media because they fear rebuttal from government authorities….’
Joseph Ngome
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Documenting the Plague of AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa

By photographing this disease’s devastation, James Nachtwey appeals ‘to stop the madness, lend a hand, restore humanity.’
James Nachtwey
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Journalism Is Failing in Its Coverage of Global AIDS

‘The worst global pandemic since the Black Death of the Middle Ages receives less media attention than a World Cup soccer match.’
Sabin Russell
March 15, 2003
Opinion

The Roles Journalists Played During the Balkan War

‘… this book is a welcomed reminder of how journalism can be a noble calling, but also a foul profession.’
Senad Pecanin
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

War Reporting: How Should Civilian Casualties Be Reported?

A veteran journalist looks at other wars to help journalists understand the value of this reporting and how best to cover them.
Bob Zelnick
March 15, 2003
Opinion

Deciding to Testify About Rwanda

‘As a journalist, I might argue against testifying but, as a human being, I could not.’
Lindsey Hilsum
March 15, 2003
Opinion

The Unseen Gulf War

A photographer portrays human suffering in war.
Peter Turnley
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

In the 1980’s, a Chicago Newspaper Investigated Cardinal Cody

‘We’re going to have to do as careful and as in-depth reporting as anyone’s ever done, because this is dynamite.’
Roy Larson
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Reporting the Catholic Church’s Scandal in Ireland

Hindered by its secrecy culture, Irish journalists were helped by dogged reporting from Britain.
Emily O’Reilly
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Explaining Why 24,000 People Died Yesterday

The Boston Globe looks worldwide at the result of scant health care.
James F. Smith
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

The Neglected Vatican Beat

‘… most reporters are constrained to do less than full-time work on a beat that demands more than full-time competence.’
John L. Allen Jr.
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Is the U.S. Government Making Children Fat?

By asking different questions, a journalist connects farm policies to childhood obesity.
Barry Yeoman
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Secrecy Remained in Place With the Church’s Finances

Journalists were not able to secure the financial documents they needed to back up their reporting from informed sources.
Stephen Kurkjian
March 15, 2003
Uncategorized

Spring 2003: Introduction

The December election of South Korea’s new president, Roh Moo-hyun, writes In-Yong Rhee, a news commentator for Seoul’s Munwha Broadcasting Corporation and current Nieman Fellow, was a “victory of the…
Melissa Ludtke
March 15, 2003
Opinion

Spring 2003: Words & Reflections Introduction

Journalists Testifying at War Crimes TribunalsShould journalists who cover war be required to testify before tribunals in which cases involving those accused of war crimes are heard? A December 2002…
Melissa Ludtke
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Spring 2003: Journalist’s Trade Introduction

As New England bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, Elizabeth Mehren reports for West Coast readers on the region’s newsworthy events. In her story opening our series of articles…
Melissa Ludtke
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Spring 2003: Introduction

Few topics receive more media attention today than the topic of health. Yet, in the view of some journalists, many of the stories being told about health are not ones…
Melissa Ludtke
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

The Uninsured Story Is Seldom Fully Told

Reporters rely on experts instead of going out where the story is happening.
Susan Dentzer
March 15, 2003
Nieman Notes

‘News to Images’

Painter Melora Kuhn first saw a photograph of Canada’s Dionne quintuplets in The Boston Globe in 1998 in an article about their success suing their government because of the separation…
Lois Fiore
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Reporting on the Business of Health Care

‘… this beat is a rich, exciting and suspenseful journey.’
Madge Kaplan
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Reporting Stories With Children as Victims of Priests

For journalists in Boston, ‘this crazy locomotive’ of a story has been unceasing and, at times, wrenching to cover.
Elizabeth Mehren
March 15, 2003
Nieman Notes

Courageous Zimbabwean Editor Becomes a Nieman Fellow

‘Like a recurring nightmare, Nyarota became a frequent occupant of Harare’s police cells.’
Shyaka Kanuma
March 15, 2003
Uncategorized

Journalists Built a Bridge of Understanding Between East and West

During the cold war, Soviet and American editors learned from one another.
Watson Sims
March 15, 2003
Uncategorized

Creating a Different Approach to Telling the News

An American journalism professor teaches students about free speech in authoritarian Uzbekistan.
Nicholas Daniloff
March 15, 2003
Opinion

Consequences Occur When Reporters Testify

A reporter urges journalists to be better watchdogs of the war crimes tribunal process.
Roy Gutman
March 15, 2003
Opinion

Roy Gutman’s Witness Statement

What follows are excerpts from a witness statement that Roy Gutman, diplomatic correspondent for Newsweek, filed in the motion on behalf of Jonathan Randal to set aside his confidential subpoena…
March 15, 2003
Opinion

Elizabeth Neuffer’s Affidavit

Elizabeth Neuffer has reported for The Boston Globe for more than 14 years, including reporting on war crimes in Bosnia and Rwanda. She is also the author of “The Key…
March 15, 2003
From the Curator

Media Ownership and the Quality of News

As the Federal Communications Commission considers changing rules, journalists need to pay better attention.
Bob Giles
March 15, 2003
Uncategorized

Reflecting the Life of China in the Mirror of His Life

A Chinese scholar and one-time journalist describes what happened to him during the Cultural Revolution.
Yvonne van der Heijden
March 15, 2003
Opinion

Objectivity Without Neutrality

A Bosnian journalist reflects on the value of testifying about the crimes of genocide.
Kemal Kurspahic
March 15, 2003
Opinion

Testing Different Expectations of Journalism

An American journalist wrestles with the request to provide evidence to a war crimes tribunal.
Nina Bernstein
March 15, 2003
Uncategorized

The Korean Election Shows a Shift in Media Power

Young voters create a ‘cyber Acropolis’ and help to elect the president.
In-Yong Rhee
March 15, 2003
Journalist’s Trade

Shining the Globe’s Spotlight on the Catholic Church

After publishing more than 900 articles about sexual molestation by priests, The Boston Globe’s coverage isn’t over yet.
Walter V. Robinson
March 15, 2003
Opinion

Balancing Journalism and Justice

A journalist proposes what might be a workable solution.
Russell Mills
March 15, 2003