List date(s) this work was published or aired.
August 8, 2012; April 25, 2012; January 11, 2012; January 4, 2012
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
KBIA’s “Health & Wealth” desk provides in-depth documentary-style stories on air and online, about under-reported issues in health and rural life in the communities we serve. These four stories represent a selection of the long-form and briefer segments that have aired on KBIA in the past year as part of this beat.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
These stories utilized data from the Centers for Disease Control, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Missouri Foundation for Health, the Missouri Dept. of Health and Senior Services, and extensive research into data from all of these organizations as well as political organizations.
Explain types of human sources used.
A range of human sources and voices are featured in these stories, including health experts from the above health and environmental agencies, as well as tape gathered from politicians, doctors, patients and community members. Finding and including a range of under-reported voices is a key focus for the reporting desk at KBIA.
Results:
The “Health & Wealth” “beat” and reporting desk is supported by a collaboration of community, healthcare and journalism organizations, including Investigative Reporters & Editors, The Association for Health Care Journalists, MU’s departments of Health and Rural Sociology, and statewide public media stations. Those partners, and our listeners, have been very generous with feedback about the issues and voices that the reporting and this “beat” have brought to light so far. The desk is funded by Mizzou Advantage, a program of the University of Missouri, and support from that group has been very positive as well.
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 corrections run on these stories that we know of.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
This desk and its funding have allowed the luxury of taking time with this reporting. That time has allowed us to get to know the communities we report for and on, dig deeper into the data and reporting, and to present complicated stories in compelling ways. Our advice is: Try to find the time to get to know people; tease out the unheard voices and under-reported stories; and let a story “breathe” so that your audiences not only learn something new, but are perhaps inspired and challenged in the process.