Congratulations are in order for two Bay Area journalists: Writer Lisa Krieger and photographer Dai Sugano have won a health journalism award for the "Cost of Dying" series that ran in the San Jose Mercury News last year. The project was prompted by something very personal - the illness and death of Krieger's elderly father - and is summarized nicely by the Association of Health Care Journalists, the organization that gave out the awards:
At the center of Krieger’s unflinching account of her father’s last days is an uncomfortable question: “Just because it's possible to prolong a life, should we?”
Hundreds of readers wrote in to thank Krieger for sharing her story and going beyond the “death panel” rhetoric that so often stifles honest discussion of end-of-life concerns. Her work demonstrates that reporters can sometimes tell the story from an unusual perspective – their own – and touch readers in a different way than would be possible with more traditional coverage.
Sheri Fink, MD, PhD, a Stanford medical alumna, also won an award from the AHCJ in the beat writing category. Fink is currently penning an article on Hurricane Sandy for the next issue of Stanford Medicine magazine.
Previously: On a mission to transform end-of-life care and Is $618,616 too much to (try to) save a life?
Via Covering Health
