Provide names of other journalists involved.
n/a
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
7/22/2011
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
I was asked to look at the various target numbers for diabetes patients for blood sugar, pressure, cholesterol, etc. What I found was scores of articles showing where the patient’s numbers SHOULD be, but none offering context of how dangerous it is to be outside these targets. My solution was to not only review the target ranges, but look at the health risks of being outside the recommended targets and to create a piece that broke all these numbers into simple Green Light–Yellow Light–Red Light ranges for perspective and context. It turned out to be much longer and more complex article than my editors had originally envisioned so it was set up on the web site as a main article with a series of “jumps” to greater details, a solution uniquely well suited on the online environment.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Medical standards of care from the American Diabetes Association, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the Yale Diabetes Center, and the American Heart Association, and data from the Centers for Disease Control (along with copious triple-checking of numbers at various online sites).
Explain types of human sources used.
n/a
Results:
n/a
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No, minor “typesetting” errors have been corrected (although I spotted a few still there when I re-read) so the articles shows an “update” in September; but nothing substantive was changed.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
When writing on medical subjects for general audiences, it’s important to use metaphor and plain English to “translate” complex topics into useable information. Oh, and I think it’s important to make long pieces “fun” to keep the reader engaged!