Right to Know
 |
WSJ explains why Medicare data is hidden Journalists to provide input in talks on information released in public health emergencies Canadian government obstructs journalists’ access AP lawyer: Be aggressive in using FOIA Reporters urged to insist on response from federal agencies |
The Association of Health Care Journalists advocates for the free flow of information to the public and collects news and information about public records, freedom of information and information about the HIPAA privacy rule.
News from the Right-to-Know Committee
Committee works to improve access to experts, officials
If a public relations representative listens in on an interview, should the reporter let readers know?
That question has recently stirred debate among AHCJ members and others, following discussion sparked by AHCJ's Right-to-Know Committee, a 12-member group working to improve access to information for reporters and the public. Members of the committee recently met with federal officials about improving reporters' access to experts. In addition, the committee is working with state and local public health officials to develop guidelines on reporting deaths of interest to the public, continues its efforts to persuade the Joint Commission to make its Web site more transparent and accessible, and to challenge medical groups that impose excessive restrictions on recording and photography at their meetings.
AHCJ seeks consistency in medical meeting policies for news media coverage
The Association of Health Care Journalists has asked medical organizations to end policies that bar journalists from recording or photographing the meetings where new scientific research is presented. Such policies make it difficult for journalists to provide complete and accurate information to the public. Most medical societies do not bar recording and photography.
AHCJ calls for better information from hospital accreditation Web site
The Association of Health Care Journalists has called upon the Joint Commission, the nonprofit agency that accredits hospitals, to do a better and more complete job of telling the public what it knows about the quality of hospital care.
Health journalists cite uneven disclosure of H1N1 deaths across country
An informal poll of AHCJ members from across the country, as well as a review of press releases and news reports, reveals that there is a wide variation in what information local and state health officials are disclosing about H1N1 deaths. AHCJ is preparing a guide for journalists who have difficulty getting basic information about deaths that are of public interest. The organization also hopes to work with public health officials on national level to encourage greater openness.
Major journalism groups demand agency end newsgathering constraints
Eleven major journalism organizations, representing thousands of journalists, are demanding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration end requirements that journalists and FDA employees notify or obtain permission from an agency official in order to conduct an interview.
The Association of Health Care Journalists, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Newspaper Association, the Radio Television Digital News Association and several other journalism groups were joined by more than two dozen individual journalists in signing the letter sent to the agency's Transparency Task Force this week.
AHCJ objects to federal agencies' handling of story embargo
The Association of Health Care Journalists sent letters this week to several federal agencies and a medical journal objecting to the uneven handling of embargoed news.
The AHCJ letters were addressed to officials at the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics to protest the recent handling of embargoes on two autism studies.
AHCJ releases letter to the editor of JAMA
The Association of Health Care Journalists objects to any effort by the Journal of the American Medical Association to silence whistle-blowers who call attention to potential conflicts of interest involving study authors. It could discourage potential whistle-blowers from coming forward with crucial information that physicians and the general public urgently need to make informed decisions about medical care.
AHCJ calls on new administration to 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. A letter sent to the Obama administration points out that such policies hamper newsgathering and make it difficult for reporters to fulfill their obligation to hold government agencies accountable.
AHCJ: Proposed legislation would be blow to public access
The Association of Health Care Journalists supports full and timely public access to the results of government-funded research. It believes legislation introduced this month by U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. and others would constitute a blow to the public's right to access vital scientific data.
Health reporters take stand against hospital confidentiality agreements
Concerned by incidents in which hospitals have attempted to restrict newsgathering, the Association of Health Care Journalists strongly urges reporters to resist signing confidentiality agreements with hospitals. Confidentiality agreements typically aim to bar journalists from disclosing information they discover in the course of reporting at a facility, unless they obtain the hospital's approval.
FOIA survey: FDA's slow response means stories go unpublished
More than two-thirds of health care reporters taking part in a First Amendment survey have had stories held or left unpublished because the Food and Drug Administration did not respond to FOIA requests in a timely manner. Only a third of reporters said they received a response within the required 20 days called for in the federal Freedom of Information Act. Many waited months or years – or never received requested data, according to the survey and analysis conducted for the Association of Health Care Journalists by graduate students at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.