Insights

<p>If you are anticipating covering Southern California's inevitable weather stories this summer -- heat waves, water shortages, wildfires -- consider this: These narratives are health, environment, public policy and economic stories all in one.</p>

<p><a href="http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/296.8.jed60051v1">Dr. Catherine DeAngelis</a>, editor-in-chief of the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association</em>, made some bold statements at last week’s <a href="http://bit.ly/cglZnt">Association of Health Care Journalists</a> conference in Chicago.</p> <p>“I usually talk about conflict of interest wearing a flak jacket,” DeAngelis said and proceeded to list all the ways she has gotten tough on authors with ties to the drug or device industries.</p>

<p>During its six-month pilot project, the <a href="http://www.centerforhealthreporting.org/">California HealthCare Foundation Center for Reporting on Health</a> at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism quietly produced in-depth journalism with California newspapers. Now, the Center has gone public with <a href="http://www.centerforhealthreporting.org/">a new website</a> and high-profile hires, including editor-in-chief <a href="http://annenberg.usc.edu/Faculty/Communication%20and%20Journalism/Westp… Westphal</a>.

<p>I am exhibiting my public art project at the Santa Monica College, Pete &amp; Susan Barrett Art Gallery. My project, <em>Health Talk</em>, is a spin off of my health column at ASIA, the Journal of Culture and Commerce. The exhibit also shows the work of eight other MFA Otis students.</p>

<p>It wasn’t until four years after the first allegations were brought against Dr. Michael E. Stoddard in Colorado that the curtain was pulled back for the patients to see what had been happening on stage.</p> <p>The scene that the <a href="https://doraimage.state.co.us/LibertyIMS::/user%3Dreg%20public;pwd%3D;s… Board of Medical Examiners’ final decision</a> set, with Stoddard as the main player, was not pretty.</p>

<p>The Internet and social media have a way of upending professional conventions and giving rise to new models. &nbsp;As traditional boundaries blur, some unique collaborations have emerged between cutting-edge journalists and public health practitioners. I’ve been fascinating by some of these projects, which have yielded new insights, ground-breaking stories and new ways of connecting with the public.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you’ve ever wondered who, exactly, is writing health stories for the controversial Web content provider <a href="http://www.demandmedia.com/">Demand Media</a> and its brands like <a href="http://www.livestrong.com/">Livestrong.com</a&gt;, meet Adam Cloe. I encountered Adam last week at the <a href="http://www.healthjournalism.org/">AHCJ conference in Chicago</a>, where he was staffing Livestrong’s exhibitor booth and politely taking guff from journalists appalled at the idea of getting paid 10 cents a word.</p>

<p>When Dr. R. Jan Gurley (a.k.a. Doc Gurley) went to Haiti to provide emergency medical care earlier this year, it blew her mind that she could carry her entire medical library with her on her iPhone. "My entire medical library, including little videos of how to do really invasive procedures, is on my iPhone. I should be able to text, upload photos and even little bits of video with my iPhone," <a href="http://www.reportingonhealth.org/blogs/doc-gurleys-ground-rules-haiti">… told ReportingonHealth</a>.</p>

<p>This review first appeared at <a href="http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/thepublicsquare/2010/04/26/the-real-c… Public Square.</a></p>