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• Editorial Policy for the Daily Reports
• Editorial Policy for HealthCast

The Kaiser Daily Health Reports draw information from more than 300 print, Internet and multimedia sources on stories related to health policy and HIV/AIDS. The reports aim to provide objective, balanced and complete coverage of media reports in these fields. Each weekday, beginning at 6 a.m., staff members scour these sources for information relevant to each publication's audience, then excerpt and synthesize the stories, pulling out and summarizing the most important facts and quotes. The reports are published by the Kaiser Family Foundation along with The Advisory Board Company.

In order to produce documents with the greatest utility, writers and editors work to ensure that stories are:

• Relevant. The stories should provide readers information applicable to their efforts in the realm of health policy, HIV/AIDS and health disparities.
  
• Non-partisan and unbiased. To ensure that information is portrayed as accurately as possible, stories must be neutral and reflect the diversity of the readership.
  
• Concise. Recognizing readers are busy, stories must separate key facts from extraneous details in news coverage.
  
• Comprehensive. Stories must reflect a breadth of coverage from diverse national and local sources.
  
• Indicative of media attention. The publications must accurately depict the amount and type of media coverage a story received, helping readers understand the public's perception of the news.
  

As the reports are "cover-the-coverage" documents, staff members do no original reporting. When possible, however - recognizing the time constraints inherent to a daily publication - the staff should make every effort to determine the accuracy of the news stories or provide additional information to clarify confusing details. Editors may also choose to hold news stories in an effort to ensure that the documents provide the most accurate information, although this action will be taken reluctantly and only in cases of obvious, major errors.




HealthCast is the webcasting service of kaisernetwork.org. HealthCast's mission is to provide video access to health policy events of interest to policymakers, the media, academics and health interest groups. HealthCast provides free online coverage of events, such as press conferences, briefings, seminars and congressional hearings. The editorial board and staff make every effort to cover a broad range of events sponsored by government, business, labor, academic institutions, think tanks, non-profit organizations and foundations. Below are some key editorial guidelines and policies:

Kaisernetwork.org staff members meet weekly to review potential health policy events submitted to HealthCast before presenting suggestions to a five-person editorial board. This board convenes regularly to determine the HealthCast schedule. Events most likely to be covered are non-partisan events that provide new insight, research or data on pressing health policy issues. Events that explore general medical or scientific discoveries are not covered unless they, in a significant way, address the policy implications of the new discoveries. Preference may be given to events that are difficult for policymakers, congressional staff, journalists, researchers and advocates to attend because of timing or location. Special consideration may also be given to events that appeal to a broader audience, but are not otherwise accessible to the public.

Editorial board and staff members make every effort to cover a balanced range of events and issues, interview individuals on various sides of a debate, offer relevant resources and recognize the existence of diverse opinions. Webcast requests may be sent to healthcast@kaisernetwork.org.

The members of the editorial board are:

• Drew Altman, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Kaiser Family Foundation
  Dr. Altman directs the work of the Kaiser Family Foundation. In 1991, Dr. Altman oversaw a complete overhaul of the Foundation leading to its standing today as a premiere source of research and information on health care in the United States. He has also served as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services, Vice President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Director of Health and Human Services at the Pew Charitable Trusts, and as a senior official at the Health Care Financing Administration. Dr. Altman earned his Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and publishes and speaks widely on health issues.
  
  
• Jill Braden Balderas, M.P.H., Managing Editor, kaisernetwork.org
  Ms. Braden Balderas runs day-to-day operations of kaisernetwork.org. Before joining the Kaiser Family Foundation, she served as senior producer and correspondent for Reuters Health Television, reporting on everything from cloning to foot and mouth disease in Europe. She also won a Unity Award for her coverage of diabetes on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Braden Balderas has also worked as an editor for National Journal's The Hotline, a political analyst for MSNBC, and a producer for C-SPAN's Washington Journal. In addition, she traveled to Africa and wrote a special series on health in war-torn Sudan and HIV/AIDS in Kenya. Braden Balderas received her M.P.H. with a focus in epidemiology from George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services.
  
  
• Matt James, Senior Vice President for Media and Public Education, Kaiser Family Foundation, Executive Director, kaisernetwork.org
  Mr. James is responsible for a large portion of the Kaiser Family Foundation's project initiatives. Mr. James currently serves on the board of trustees of the Morris K. Udall Foundation, the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health and on advisory committees for the Council on Foundations and Independent Sector. Prior to joining the Foundation in 1991, Mr. James spent many years on Capitol Hill as Chief of Staff for Congressman Morris K. Udall and as a communication and political aide to Senators Dale Bumpers and the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Mr. James was also a former newscaster and reporter and is widely published, with articles appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), The Los Angeles Times, The Detroit Free Press, The Washingtonian, and many other magazines and newspapers. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo.
  
  
• Larry Levitt, M.P.P., Editor-in-Chief, Kaisernetwork.org, Vice President, Kaiser Family Foundation
  Mr. Levitt directs all editorial and technical aspects of kaisernetwork.org. Prior to holding this position Mr. Levitt was the Director of the Changing Health Care Marketplace Project. Mr. Levitt has extensive state and federal health policy experience. Before joining the Foundation, Mr. Levitt, senior manager with The Lewin Group, served as a senior White House health policy advisor on the development of President Clinton's Health Security Act, served as the Special Assistant for Health Policy with California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, served as a medical economist with Kaiser Permanente, and managed new program development for the Massachusetts Department of Medical Security, the agency charged with implementing the universal health care plan in Massachusetts. Mr. Levitt earned his master's degree in public policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
  
  
• Diane Rowland, Sc.D., Executive Vice President, Kaiser Family Foundation and Executive Director, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
  Dr. Rowland is a noted authority on health policy, Medicare and Medicaid and health care for poor and disadvantaged populations. She is currently on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University's School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Rowland also has extensive federal health policy experience. Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked for the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, Energy and Commerce Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, and was a senior official in the Office of the Secretary and the Health Care Financing Administration, Department of Health and Human Services.
  
  

The editorial board and staff draw on several resources for setting operating standards and ethics. They include:

"Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics"
"Radio-Television News Directors Association's Code of Ethics and Standards"
"Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct"
"Health Internet Ethics: Ethical Principles for Offering Internet Health Services to Consumers"
"AMA Guidelines for Medical and Health Information Sites on the Internet."

In addition, editorial staff may not: 1) engage in the prosecution of claims or the promotion of legislation pending before Congress, the Departments, or the independent agencies; 2) be employed in any legislative or executive department or independent agency of the Government, or by any foreign government or representative thereof; 3) engage in any lobbying activities; or 4) furnish special information to any organization, individual, or group of individuals for the influencing of prices on any commodity or stock exchange.

HealthCast covers events as they happen and does not control or in any way attempt to influence the shape or content of events hosted by other organizations. Coverage of any event is done solely for information purposes -- as a service to our users -- and does not carry any explicit or implied endorsement of any views expressed during the event. On occasion HealthCast may provide additional programming in an effort to provide insight or analysis on health policy issues. These webcasts are clearly identified as HealthCast productions.