Insights

This week: WMFE-FM needs a new healthcare reporter. Also highlighted are opportunities at various newspaper and magazine outlets.

On January 1, California will begin transitioning children from the Healthy Families Program, a low-cost health insurance program for kids and teens, into Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid.

The Sandy Hook shooting was the seventh mass murder I’ve covered in my 26 years as a reporter – five of them in the last two years. In each case it’s struck me, the man lived in a tiny room and seemed to have trouble with anyone impinging on the universe that he alone occupied.

The psychiatric world is close to receiving an updated version of their “Bible.” Officially known as the DSM 5 this tome, published by the Association of Psychiatrists, under goes revision every couple of decades often accompanied by contentious issues and rancor.

The best reporters are in a tough position. Their first love is news gathering, digging, tracking, hunting, cajoling, puzzling and un-puzzling. They are detectives without the persuasive power of a badge. And yet they also have to write it all down.

There has been little public conversation and awareness about Montana's high suicide rates. That changed on Sunday, Nov. 25 when Billings Gazette Editor Steve Prosinski devoted an entire front page to the issue with two full, color inside pages, followed by front-page articles on Monday and Tuesday.

Over the past two years, I’ve spoken with dozens of Kentuckians battling prescription drug abuse. All of the stories broke my heart. But they needed to be told.

Community clinics, doctors and medical facilities are already struggling to provide appropriate, culturally competent medical translation to diverse populations, and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act could exacerbate the situation.

Social media and mainstream journalists have reported potential links to autism and the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary. Jumping to conclusions about the alleged gunman risks making others fear those who suffer from mental illness.

Many people think that large health trend studies in high-income countries rely on “hard data,” while in low-income countries the numbers must be mostly estimates. In fact, researchers make estimates everywhere because, the data from vital statistics, censuses and surveys all have their limitations.