New health reporting model 'has legs'

The California HealthCare Foundation Center for Health Reporting at USC Annenberg has been around for a year now as a new model for health news. Director David Westphal calls it a success so far.

The six journalists who make up our center, all veteran professionals with decades of collective experience, are producing powerful and in-depth reporting on California health by partnering with local news organizations across the state. Since our inception, we have delivered 17 projects appearing in 31 California newspapers, on topics ranging from the health hazards of wood-burning stoves to a growing shortage of Medicare doctors.

Although we’re just getting started, we've demonstrated one point clearly: that a news organization supported by a foundation (the California HealthCare Foundation) and affiliated with a university journalism school (USC Annenberg) can partner with local news organizations to produce difference-making journalism.

The organization has launched a new website as well.