Insights

You learn a lot when you spend months reporting on a given issue or community, as our fellows can attest. Whether you’re embarking on a big new story or seeking to go deeper on a given issue, it pays to learn from those who’ve already put in the shoe leather and crunched the data. In these essays and columns, our community of journalists steps back from the notebooks and tape to reflect on key lessons, highlight urgent themes, and offer sage advice on the essential health stories of the day. 

Author(s)
By William Heisel

<p>Journalist. Santa Monica City Councilman. Music Producer. Entrepreneur. <a href="http://www.bobbyshriver.com/red.php">Bobby Shriver</a> has worn a lot of hats, some of them simultaneously. Now, while working as a councilman, he runs <a href="http://www.joinred.com/Home.aspx">(RED)</a&gt;, a company he created with Bono to fund the purchase and distribution of medications to fight HIV and AIDS in Africa. I reached him at his office in Santa Monica. </p><p>Here is a recap of our conversation. It has been edited for space and clarity. </p>

Author(s)
By Barbara Feder Ostrov

<p>The release of a major new <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/state_data/state_highlights/… report on states' tobacco control programs</a>, the first in 5 years, is a great peg for taking a look at what's happening in your state and community. The CDC report gives state-by-state breakdowns of smoking rates by age and other demographics and provides a snapshot of current state regulations on smoking.</p>

Author(s)
By William Heisel

<p>Father William Cleary helped set up a Catholic parish in Satellite Town, one of the growing suburbs of Lagos, Nigeria, in 1987. The 73-year-old served there until July 2008 and saw the country undergo massive societal, cultural and political changes while struggling to overcome stubborn public health threats from poor sanitation, a malarial climate and a reluctance to face head-on the threat of <a href="http://www.apin.harvard.edu/AIDS_in_Nigeria.html">AIDS</a>.</p&gt;

Author(s)
By William Heisel

<p>President Barack Obama is searching for a new surgeon general. He might consider screening the resumes of doctors a little lower in the federal ranks. </p>

Author(s)
By Barbara Feder Ostrov

<p>It didn't take long, did it? Already, unscrupulous vendors are hawking products to "cure" or "prevent" swine flu. Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission issued an <a href="http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2009/NEW02007.html">alert</a&gt; warning about such scams. And that's not all - some swine flu emails actually <a href="http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2009/04/scam-swine-flu-emails-… viruses</a> that can infect your computer or steal your personal data. The Washington Post blogs on the problem <a href="/">here</a>. </p>

Author(s)
By Barbara Feder Ostrov

<p>There's plenty of <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a&gt; traffic on swine flu right now, and much of it is hysterical fearmongering, a <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103562240">story</…; in itself. However, if you check out <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23swineflu">#swineflu</a&gt; on Twitter, amid the twaddle you'll see some interesting real-time posts about surgical masks on janitors at the Atlanta airport, a cruise line's decision to avoid Mexican ports in favor of Nicaraguan ones, and rumors about the U.S.