Website glitches are a reason to ditch ObamaCare? Really?

The recent Healthcare.gov website fiasco is a classic example where poorly planned implementation (in this case horrendously poor!) could sink an otherwise fundamentally sound idea.

We all suffer through tech glitches all the time. It's frustrating — even maddening — but we endure it as part of everyday life in a tech-enabled world. It does not mean we cavalierly jettison good ideas because a website gave us a 404 Error. 

When it comes to the Healthcare.gov problems, Paula Poundstone weighed in on CBS News Sunday Morning: 

Most of us agreed that we loved the idea of people with pre-existing health problems being able to receive coverage. It is simply not possible that technical challenges with the website could cause voters to turn off on that idea. 

Anybody who has ever used a computer knows that privilege goes hand-in-hand with frustration. Why would we give up on the affordable health care law because of that?

If we were ordering something from Amazon, we'd keep trying for months. … We're no strangers to struggling with websites. Why would that make us give up on a law that makes some insurance policies provide preventative medicine with no co-payments?

There is a lot to learn and dissect from the Affordable Care Act's ongoing implementation fumbles, but one lesson is imperative: Sweat the details. Always!

Journalists' access meets news management (or is it censorship?)

Tools of the "corporate journalists'" trade.

There's a great and long-running debate raging over reporters' access to government officials.

Reporters feel press officers (in government these are referred to Public Affairs Officials or Public Information Officers) hinder their access to information. Press officers and government officials see it as managing the message and the accuracy of information.

Columbia Journalism Review recently had a solid overview of both sides in a recent blog post ("Hacks vs. flacks: Do public affairs offices get in the way?" August 14, 2013).

For the journalists, freelance reporter Kathryn Foxhall:

“It is massive, pernicious censorship that is now a cultural norm. It’s people in power stopping the flow of information to the public according to their own ideas and desires.”

For the press officers, Tony Fratto, former deputy press secretary to President George W. Bush:

“It is really, really rare to find really good reporters with the length of time on a beat it takes to master that beat."

Both are right. In part.

I've been lucky to be on both sides. I started writing for a small daily newspaper and then was a reporter/editor for United Press International before becoming a public affairs official for private, not-for-profit health systems. 

Reporters who become "flacks" (as I guess I did!) are said to "go over to the dark side." But those of us who were deeply steeped and trained in journalistic values and ethics see our roles in our organizations as "corporate journalists" — we apply the reporter's tools and techniques (and the editor's skepticism) to our jobs. This means both playing devil's advocate within our organizations and sussing out the truth.

Our job is not to deny access — it is to facilitate access and ensure accuracy.

"Corporate journalists" work by a few simple rules:

1. Never lie.
2. Answer questions as openly and honestly as possible.
3. Provide context and understanding.

Based on my journalism training at Boston University and Ohio Wesleyan University — and my real world newsroom experience at UPI — these are the same rules as a "real" journalist.

Which brings us to accountability. 

Organizations need to be held accountable — health care is going through its own accountability evolution as we speak. But reporters also need to be held accountable so that news is reported accurately, without sensation, and within the proper context.

People's lives and livelihoods are at stake. When a mistake is made, there is usually not malicious intent nor gross incompetence or negligence. But often stories get reported that way, which can cause the public to lose confidence in an institution. When the mistake is egregious, or even intentional, organizations need to own up to it.

Transparency is important. So is fairness. Taking the time to report accurately, with a solid understanding of a situation's context, will gain reporters more respect (and future access) and will better serve the public good.

News vs. ideas (or Miley vs. Madonna)

Sometimes a quote just grabs you, like this one from Twitter co-founder Ev Williams:

“News in general doesn’t matter most of the time, and most people would be far better off if they spent their time consuming less news and [consuming] more ideas that have more lasting import.”

The quote was in an interview Williams did for TechCrunch about his new venture, Medium, the latest entry in the (re-)emerging online long-form journalism market. 

This TIME magazine cover, with the teaser "Miley vs. Madonna," sparked an interesting discussion about "what is news."

Whether (and what) news matters is part of a discussion I have regularly with my son, Tim Rattray, who is studying journalism and screenwriting at Drexel University, like this recent one that was sparked by the teaser headline, "Miley vs. Madonna," on a recent TIME magazine cover:

Tim: "How is that news?"

Me: "It's pop culture. Magazines like TIME report on pop culture."

Tim: "Well, it's not news."

True enough. Our definition of news is changing and evolving rapidly, as is the way we consume it. There is an increasing emphasis on celebrity, pop culture and what us news junkies might call dribble. Less people read newspapers while more count on Twitter, Facebook and the Daily Show for their "news." Others even get their news cues from Kelly and Michael or The View.

But there is a movement, if you can call it that, toward longer-form journalism — what we scribes and PR folks call "thought pieces" — that slow down and really chew on topics (Williams's Medium is just such a long-form platform). In fact, Tim and his peers now probably consume more long-form journalism in the forms of both insight and criticism than actual news bits, at least on subjects that interest them. 

There is a place for both news and ideas. We need the news to keep current on what happens, but we need those big and bold ideas to provide context, clarity, consensus and, yes, even change.

Williams, again: 

“I think more people would be in a better place if more people shared their ideas.”

One thing's for certain — the sharing of ideas is making a strong resurgence. And participating in robust discussions around ideas, rather than just the news, would be a welcomed shift in our society.

Photo Friday: #Newspapers sold here

There's something "old-timey" about spending time in Watch Hill in the summer. 

The famous Flying Horse Carousel at the end of Bay Street is a favorite of children and adults. It is the oldest carousel of its type in the U.S. and may very well be the oldest carousel in operation in the country.

It was ironic, then, to see this sandwich board sign in front of the carousel. It is very likely the iconic Flying Horse Carousel, which opened in 1876, may very well outlive newspapers! 

News is going digital. Summer fun never will! 

Shot at Flying Horse Carousel in Watch Hill, Westerly, R.I., July 30, 2013

Breaking Bad could have been 1 episode (health care is to blame)

Source: christopherkeelty.com

Breaking Bad has gone viral. So has a cartoon it inspired. All because of health care.

Christopher Keelty, a writer who drew a single cartoon (this one!), posited that the premise of Breaking Bad was made possible by a "uniquely American" situation.

One thing that really interests me about the show is how it juxtaposes two of America’s most catastrophic policy failures: The for-profit health care industry and the failed War on Drugs, which has created a black market that makes the manufacture and sale of illegal drugs incredibly profitable.

I got to thinking how uniquely American the show is, and that led to this comic strip.

Keelty struck a nerve. His cartoon was tweeted and posted by thousands, including Michael Moore. He became a lightning rod for a discussion of these issues.

In a video explaining the phenomenon, Keelty said:

A cartoon is really just a visual joke. It is not meant to be a damning case against American health care. But a surprising number of people have wanted to engage me with the same old tired arguments about health care that we have been hearing for, jeez, I don't know, 10, 20 years at this point.

Sometimes it takes a new perspective to help us see where our policies are failing us. Keelty's cartoon provided that. Hopefully the ensuing discussion will be about creating solutions, not placing blame.

I became a little bit famous this week with a Breaking Bad cartoon that went viral. It's a very strange feeling, and I'm very grateful. I also learned a few things I thought I'd share.