A few bright spots in the US media’s health reform coverage

(CJR)Media coverage of health reform lately has centered on the legislative horse race, as we knew it would. The press has gone wild covering nearly every twist and turn in the chase to get bills passed by the full House and Senate before the August recess—even to the point of a stakeout during deliberations of the Senate Finance Committee. Will the president make his timetable? What does Dick Durbin have to say? What’s the financing option du jour? Which Republicans will play ball with Max Baucus? What are the Blue Dogs barking about now? It has been optimism one day, pessimism the next. This sort of coverage has two downsides: it misses what the special interests are up to, and it shortchanges the public—which needs to know how health reform would affect them.