In a report on the status and health of American journalism, the Project for Excellence in Journalism revealed that health care press coverage over the past two years has totaled six tenths of a percent. That’s right, not even a full one percent. Apparently, health care has had trouble getting its fair share of press coverage due to racier headlines like the economy, the pecking order of prominent Republicans, the latest celebrity scandal, etc.
Health care was finally in the news on March 5, when President Obama hosted a health care summit to address what many recognize as an enormous problem in America. Even so, the coverage paled when compared to that of the financial crisis, and according to the article, the summit generated about half the attention created by the debate over who is leading the Republican Party.
That’s something we all need to know right now, isn’t it?
A couple of weeks ago, Time Magazine did a big story on peanut allergies. This week, NPR aired a few stories on AIDS, and I guess both of these topics could be considered “sexy” health care pieces, as opposed to a story on the sorry state of the American health care system.
As of October 2008, 46 million Americans, including 9 million children, were living without health care coverage. Ho hum, says the American press. Our system isn’t convenient either--on same day appointments, only 30 percent of Americans report that they can access a doctor on the day they need one as opposed to 55 percent of Germans. Boring, says the American press—give us something sensational to write about.
How about this? A friend of mine was recently admitted to Baptist Hospital for a routine appendix removal--too bad for her that it was the weekend, because Baptist doesn’t employ an on-call surgeon on the weekends. So, she waited in agony for Monday to come while getting sicker and sicker. By the time she was transferred to another hospital, which had only one on-call surgeon, she had to wait her turn. Meanwhile, her appendix had ruptured, necessitating the removal of most of her bowel and landing her in intensive care for a week. She almost died.
Maybe our new president can jump start some interest in health care with our press. Outside of what Bernie Madoff and AIG executives did, I think health care is the biggest scandal currently taking place in our country.
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That's awful. I don't have a problem accessing health care as of the moment because my Father is in the Military. Even still, the Navy doctor's aren't very good.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about your friend, and I hope that she is feeling better.
Health Care in America has always been a really big issue, and it seems like we haven't really been doing anything to fix it, even after all of the facts have been uncovered, even after popular documentaries like SICKO have been released.
I hope that Health Care moves to the top of Presidential and Congressional priorities ASAP.
Oh my gosh! I feel so sorry for your friend! I had no idea that such situations exsisited. Health care for America has definitely always been a large issue. And the saddest part of all is the fact that I know a lot of people that go unissured. People dont understand how importnat it is. But, I cant blame them because there is very limited information out there on the subject.
ReplyDeleteooouuuccchhh...that is terrible Wendy.Health care is such a touchy subject right now. In my blog I wrote how the media is judging Obama for not fixing healthcare, but then are they are saying..."well he can't fix healthcare unitl he fixes the economy"... no win situation. I just pray that the health care in our country gets fixed!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry about what happened to your friend, now that is a story that should have been on the news. People not having health care in America is not a great thing and the nation does not want to address the issue, just like many others.
ReplyDeleteI am pregnant and doctors have denied seeing me due to a bill I didnt know I had because my insurance had not paid for it all. They rather worry about a stupid bill rather than the safety and health of my child. I understand!