Archive for January, 2009
Prevention vs. Treatment
Thursday, January 29th, 2009Christine Gorman at the Global Health Report blog asked several bloggers who write about global health to take on the subject of treatment vs. prevention. I write about health as a layperson from personal experience and public policy. Other bloggers writing today on the subject offer professional expertise and a variety of viewpoints.
The news that [...]
BBC & Sky Refuse Gaza Appeal
Monday, January 26th, 2009The BBC and Sky television refuse to broadcast a two-minute appeal for humanitarian aid for the children of Gaza, contending that to do so would risk the impartiality of news coverage.
A coalition of thirteen humanitarian agencies is participating in the Disasters Emergency Committee to provide emergency assistance to the people of Gaza.
Dr. John Sentamu, Archbishop [...]
Media and Development
Saturday, January 24th, 2009The agreement between the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) and the Guardian, the London-based daily newspaper, to document a development program in Kitane, Uganda is leading to interesting and valuable insights into the relationship between the non-profit development organization and the journalists covering the effort.
The interaction between development and journalism has long fascinated and [...]
Carry the Constitution With You
Friday, January 16th, 2009I carry a copy of the U.S. Constitution in mini-booklet form with me when I travel. That, and a pocketbook-size scripture, plus miscellaneous reading material. I refer to the Constitution, sometimes out of idle curiosity and sometimes because I need to be reminded of its content and promise. Just as with scripture.
The two point to [...]
Writing as Healing is not Blogging for Publication
Friday, January 16th, 2009A guest blogger on the Lifehack blog caught my attention with a short piece on writing as a form of self-healing. So did an article by Stephen Drachler on blogging by United Methodists. Blogging is personal writing published for the world to see, if you want it to be so. And therein lies the dilemma.
The [...]
Will Media Coverage Derail Health Care Reform?
Monday, January 12th, 2009In a provocative blog post on the Health Beat Blog Niko Karvounis discusses how media coverage of health care could derail health care reform. Karvounis offers an insightful review of health care coverage in mainstream media and says the challenge will be to make sure titillation doesn’t trump the issues.
The potential for this to happen [...]
Exploited Children
Thursday, January 8th, 2009When Nicholas Kristof wrote of his experience with a young woman sold into prostitution in Phnom Penh he reminded me how little distance we’ve covered the past three decades in protecting children from exploitation.
Years ago I was sitting in a Land Cruiser waiting for a ferry in Cambodia when I saw the barrel of a [...]
Publishing, Journalism, Music and New Digital Media
Thursday, January 1st, 2009A postscript.
After writing this I discovered a couple of blog posts with different perspectives. Blogger Kelby Carr writes that newspapers are heading in the wrong direction by cutting content and paring down long form journalism.
Erin Kotecki Vest wrote about the journalistic results of the adaptation to brevity, short attention span and unwavering objectivity.
As a result [...]