Friday, August 02, 2013. Last Update: Fri 6:50 AM EST

Author Archive

Articles by Trudy Lieberman | Email the Author

Trudy.MassExchanges.6.18.12.jpg

The brave new world of health insurance exchanges

It’s time to take a look at how they are working in Massachusetts and beyond

New York Times reporter Abby Goodnough’s piece last week about the health insurance exchange in Massachusetts is instructive—especially since other... More

Trudy.583.SS.6.15.12.jpg

The Times finds the people angle on Social Security

A human story clarifies a policy question

It was good to see The New York Times publish the kind of story we have been urging—one that describes... More

Trudy.OmahaVoters.6.12.12.jpg

The word on the street: insecure

Listening to voters in Omaha’s Old Market

Last week I found myself in Omaha, at the city’s Old Market, hoping to visit with some of the locals... More

Trudy.582.SSBaby.67.12.jpg

What was CNN Money thinking?

A Q&A on retirement issues sows confusion

It’s hard to say what was the point of CNN Money’s latest contribution to the retirement debate. The site's Q&A... More

Trudy.MedDev.6.6.12.jpg

A superb expose about an unsafe medical device

The OC Register lays bare a lax approval system that hurts patients

Tony Saavedra and Courtney Perkes, reporters for The Orange County Register, deserve a laurel for their superb piece about harmful... More

Trudy.Walmart.6.1.12.jpg

The word on the street: frustrated

Listening to voters at a Pennsylvania Walmart

Last week a NBC News/Marist poll showed President Obama and Mitt Romney locked in a tight race in Florida and... More

SimpsonPic.TrudyKicker.5.31.12.jpg

Talking back to Alan Simpson

The press picks up on his latest salvo. More, please?

Former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, as followers of the entitlements debate know, is, shall we say, tart-tongued and gutsy. Or,... More

Pelosi for Trudy.5.29.12.jpg

A Grand Bargain on entitlements?

The press is sending signals about Simpson-Bowles. How about explaining it?

To the average person, Nancy Pelosi’s May 20 interview with George Stephanopoulos probably seemed like standard procedure for a Sunday... More

TrudyCreditCards.jpg

The new medical-credit racket

The Record uncovers how patients are getting shafted—medically and financially

Reporter Lindy Washburn, at The Record in Bergen County, New Jersey, has revealed the latest shenanigans of unscrupulous members of... More

bogeyman.trudypic.5.18.12.jpg

Medicare and the $500 billion bogeyman

Will a half-truth still work for the GOP?

Republicans and their allies are dusting off an old $500 billion deception about Medicare, trying once more to scare seniors... More

trudy health massachussetts.jpg

Health costs: Is Mass. the only model?

What about Vermont? (Not to mention Maryland)

We all know Obamacare is Romneycare and Romneycare is Obamacare and that the Bay State has set the standard for... More

reading imaging.jpg

How an anti-tax HIT squad employs the press

“We’re pitching things and hope people run it. We’re not paying for ads”

The small-business community has revved up its campaign to repeal a tax on insurance companies intended to help finance subsidies... More

reading imaging.jpg

Healthcare: Do Americans get too much—or too little?

A shout-out to Remapping Debate

We’ve become accustomed of late to stories telling us we get too much healthcare. We get too much of the... More

Trudy.photo.5.3.12.jpg

Memo to Kevin Drum

Mediocre stories about Social Security are not okay

Dear Kevin: I have not written to you before, but I do know your work from the health reform debate.... More

Memo to Joe Nocera

Re: your vanishing retirement nest egg

Dear Joe: I have written to you before. The subject was Medicare, and how tricky it is to cover it.... More

Report Card on Social Security Trust Fund Coverage

An F for the headlines; a C- for the stories

This week, Social Security trustees issued their annual report on the program’s financial health. The news was expected: Social Security... More

How the Media Has Shaped the Social Security Debate

The press plays a dubious role

Shortly after the 2010 midterm elections, Washington Post budget correspondent Lori Montgomery reported that, while a debate raged around... More

EXTRA Unpacks the Media’s Medicare Coverage

Are journalists writing for doctors or for patients?

I don’t know Amy Poe, a writer and Medicare consumer based in Little Rock, Arkansas. But I like a piece... More

The War of the Dentists and their Competitors

A shout-out to Kansas Public Radio

Every once in a while an interesting, well-done piece from public radio comes along that makes you think. This week... More

WellPoint Raises Rates Again

And the national press looks the other way

Anthem Blue Cross—a subsidiary of WellPoint, the country’s second largest insurer—and its 39 percent rate increase in California became somewhat... More

Barack Obama: ‘those old times aren’t coming back’

“It used to be there were local newspapers everywhere. If you wanted to be a journalist, you could really make a good living working for your hometown paper”

The Guardian’s editor opens up on Reddit

Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, answered questions in an Ask Me Anything

The (almost) lost speech of Justice Anthony Kennedy

How his insightful remarks about the Constitution inadvertently make the case for a Supreme Court “media pool”

Fox News sues TVEyes for copyright infringement

Says subscription service sells access to its content without permission nor compensation

Beijing subway at rush hour

Feel better about your commute now?

  • If you like the magazine, get the rest of the year for just $19.95 (6 issues in all).
  • If not, simply write cancel on the bill and return it. You will owe nothing.

Who Owns What

The Business of Digital Journalism

A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Study Guides

Questions and exercises for journalism students.