Author Archive
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Campaign Desk
McCain’s Health Proposals Under the Microscope
July 14, 2008 11:00 AMThis is the first entry in a series examining John McCain’s health proposals and how they have been covered in the press. A few years back, I attended a meeting at the Rayburn Building on Capitol Hill to hear... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
One Step Forward, One Step Back
July 11, 2008 11:20 AMScore one for the Associated Press! We at CJR have been posting for some time about the misuse of the words “universal” and “national” by politicians and the media to describe candidates’ health plans. On Monday, we <a href=http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/memo_to_health_care_reporters.php target=resource... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Where Have All the Doctors Gone?
July 8, 2008 08:48 AMDespite all the campaign chatter about reducing health care costs by sending folks to the doctor more often for preventive check-ups, mammograms, and prostate screenings, there has been remarkably little said about who will actually do the work of primary... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Memo To Health Care Reporters
July 7, 2008 09:46 AMToo many recent health care stories have been confusing the terms “national” and “universal,” and using the term universal to mean something that it does not. These are dangerous practices. Misuse of these terms misleads people about what Barack Obama’s... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
At Last: A Good, Issue-Driven Health Care Story
July 3, 2008 12:27 PMToo often during this campaign season health care stories have failed to explain the real issues in health reform. Oh yes, news outlets have dutifully quoted what the candidates are saying: “We’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Please, ABC, Tell Us What This Story Is About
July 1, 2008 01:59 PMA Dart to ABCNews.com for a muddled mess of a story that may be interesting to Beltway health cognoscenti, but is confusing as the devil to the man (or woman) on the street. The story, entitled “Obama Health Plan... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
More Questions About Massachusetts Health Care
June 27, 2008 08:43 AMKudos to Kyle Cheney of the State House News Service for a wicked good piece published in the Belmont (Mass.) Citizen-Herald. The article, which discussed the future of the Massachusetts health reform plan, is reminiscent of the good state... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Grassroots Support for Single Payer
June 24, 2008 10:32 AMCrossing what has become the acceptable boundary for discussion about health reform, the media turned out last Thursday to cover rallies in nineteen cities—organized by numerous groups that support a Medicare For All approach to curing the nation’s health care... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
What Are the Odds for Health Reform?
June 23, 2008 11:08 AMWarning flags are up again! Despite all the well-documented problems people have in getting insurance, staying insured, getting care that doesn’t kill them, and paying for it; despite all the momentum and grassroots interest the primaries have generated, the signals... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
A Tale of Two Visions — For Health Reform
June 19, 2008 09:14 AMEarlier this week, Publius, a blogger at Obsidian Wings, took McClatchy’s Washington bureau to task for a story that described how John McCain and Barack Obama have very different visions for health care reform. Duh! Says Publius: “From... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
The High Cost of Health Care
June 17, 2008 08:40 AMWhat the heck, you may be asking, do journalists have to do with the soaring costs of pharmaceuticals or a $100 million device called the “particle accelerator” that uses protons to bombard cancerous tumors? Journalists, after all, don’t create those... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
On Health Care, a Warning from the States
June 16, 2008 08:22 AMThe news from the states about reforming health care is less than promising. You might even call it grim, foreshadowing what awaits any candidate—for Congress, the statehouse, the governor’s office, or the presidency—who is serious about changing the system: it’s... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Turning Point: Health Care
June 12, 2008 12:00 PMThis is part six of a series on the start of the 2008 presidential election’s general campaign. Links to the rest of the series can be found at the bottom of the article. Of the hundreds of stories... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
How Not to Cover a Speech
June 9, 2008 08:43 AMThe Roanoke Times ran a story on Friday about Barack Obama’s campaign kickoff in Southwest Virginia. It’s the kind of story we hope will not become a model for covering the stump speeches, at least as they relate to... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Inside the Insurers’ Bag of Tricks
June 4, 2008 02:59 PMBack in February we praised the Los Angeles Times and its reporter, Lisa Girion, for tailing California’s big health insurers and describing their tactics to avoid paying claims. The companies, she reported, like to cancel or rescind policies of... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Watch the Democrats, Part II
May 27, 2008 11:55 AMA story in The Hill a few weeks ago, which we reported on, offered some grim comments from members of the Senate about prospects for health reform that have reverberated. Among others, they reverberated with Ezra Klein at... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
No More “Socialized Medicine” — Part II
May 21, 2008 09:25 AMEven before The Associated Press declared that John McCain was wrong when he called the Democratic candidates' health plans socialized medicine, The New York Times had told its readers the same thing--that McCain is incorrect in suggesting that... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Do Dems Want Health-Care Reform?
May 19, 2008 12:39 PMHealth care reform won’t happen no matter how forcefully the candidates push unless Congress goes along. While the Democratic contenders have offered a vision that could bring insurance coverage to more Americans, rumblings on Capitol Hill indicate that not all... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
No More “Socialized Medicine”—at least from the AP
May 15, 2008 08:15 AMMaybe John McCain still believes that the health car plans offered by Democratic candidates “move closer to a nationalized health care system,” but he’s wrong. And we’re happy to report that The Associated Press now tells readers otherwise. ... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Dick Cheney’s Health Care
May 13, 2008 10:32 AMBill Moyers Journal last week featured the California Nurses Association--not the usual Moyers Q and A with a guest, but a reported piece that examined the health care advocacy of a vocal and vociferous group that makes you realize... Continue reading
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Desks
The Audit Business
- Audit Notes: pyramid people, Disney and ABC, no USA Today paywall Roddy Boyd digs into a diet-shake pyramid scheme
- Hot air Rises Above on CNBC An anchor pins a minor dip in stocks on the TV appearance of a minor politician
The Observatory Science
- Dull news from Doha UN climate summit a ho-hum affair for the press
- Highway to the danger zone Following Sandy, HuffPo and NYT dig into the folly of coastal development
Campaign Desk Politics & Policy
- NBC News sets good example for Medicare reporting People perspective leads to clear explanation of impact of proposed changes
- In Pennsylvania, a niche site with wide reach PoliticsPA drives political conversation in Keystone State
Behind the News The Media
Blog
The Kicker last updated: Fri 3:00 PM
- Must-reads of the week
- The media news cycle is bananas
- Pass the #popcorn
- Must-reads of the week
- Tom Rosenstiel leaving Pew
The Future of Media
News Startups Guide last updated: Thu 10:24 AM
- TRVL A free iPad travel magazine
- TheDigitel A small chain of local news sites/ aggregators in South Carolina
