Often journalists tell what has happened but not what it means, criticizes Jane Coutts, health policy reporter for the Globe and Mail.
“There’s only one way to serve the readers and that’s with knowledge,” she told reporters at the Canadian Association of Journalists annual convention recently.
Coutts said reporters need to get background on issues before attending press conferences, spend more time at meetings and report more than just resolutions.
For example, at one medical convention, the doctors kept expressing a desire for private medical care yet they passed a resolution stating they endorsed medicare. While other media reported the resolution, Coutts wrote the doctors really wanted private billing.
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Journalists should stop assuming the status quo is best, Coutts said. Instead of writing how terrible it was for Saskatchewan hospitals to close, look at how many there were before – was the number unnecessarily high? – and whether some needed to be closed. Impact should be reported, but with facts instead of bias.
Challenge everything. Never accept “conventional wisdom” such as the idea that Canada’s aging population will have a big impact on the health system. Check whether that is true and check other countries’ experience. “Not everyone needs a hip replacement at 60.”
As for hospitals “closed for lack of funds,” this also is not always true. Check how much money was really involved, cut or reinvested, and put it into context. Explore where the money is actually spent. Look for details, such as how in one hospital the nurses no longer bring water to the patients. Show the impact on patient care. Finally, do not go with the statement “this has never happened before” but check if these situations have happened and compare them with other provinces, Coutts said.
