Affect Strategies Media Specialist Walter Ocner attended a “meet the medical correspondents” event this week and gives us these highlights.
I had the recent pleasure of helping put together a panel for the International Radio and Television Society Foundation (IRTS) titled “Doctors on TV: Medical Editors and Correspondents”. The event was held in the HBO auditorium in New York City and brought together four of the most prominent medical correspondents on television today:
Dr. Max Gomez, Medical reporter for WCBS-TV in New York
Dr. Timothy Johnson, Medical editor for ABC News
Dr. Jonathan LaPook, Medical correspondent for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
Dr. Sapna Parikh, Medical correspondent with WNYW-TV and Fox NewsEdge
Mr. Richard Huff, TV editor for the New York Daily News (moderator)
The audience was a mix of medical representatives, public relations professionals and broadcasters. The discussion revolved around the ever-changing world of television news and how medical reporting is impacted by the business of television reporting. The panelists agreed that medical stories are receiving less real estate during the nightly news and that oftentimes they feel the pressure of focusing on more sensational stories. They also agreed that the business of medical reporting has changed significantly in the past few years, forcing them to be more selective in the stories they choose and more stringent in the vetting process.
Nowadays, a medical story needs to be backed up by a phase three trial or a published report in a prestigious medical journal for it to be considered. Patient stories are usually only used in the context of a major medical announcement, and even then it is not very prominently placed in a piece. They also discussed how much harder it is to convey a story in a shorter allotted time. Many times, they need to explain a whole story just in the promo, which runs approximately five seconds.
Each panelist discussed their love for what they do and the sense of satisfaction they receive in reporting news that can impact people’s lives. When asked about pitching stories to them, they agreed that persistence is a virtue (as long as it doesn’t become stalking) and that a concise explanation of the story at the beginning of the pitch is more effective. Because of the amount of emails they receive, they usually give each email four seconds of eyeball time. If the pitch doesn’t grab them in those four seconds, there is almost no chance of capturing their interest. It should also be noted that most of the reporters do welcome story ideas to be sent directly to them. In the case of ABC, all story ideas need to be vetted first through the Medical Unit pipeline for consideration.
The panel was lively, informative and very illuminating. Kudos should be given to Jim Cronin, Director, Member Programs & Development for IRTS, whose brainchild this forum was. Also special mention should be given to Sandra Bossert of Wave Entertainment and Patricia Bifulco, SVP of Hill and Knowlton for their hard work in putting this panel together. I recommend people visit the IRTS website for future events.
-Walter Ocner
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