Anatomy of a Smear Campaign

by Karoli on January 21, 2007

Do you have a great primary care physician? We do. He’s been our doctor for 13 years. He’s the only doctor Dancergirl knows. I wrote about his situation here.

Today, the Ventura County Star treated us to an incredibly offensive rehash of our doctor’s situation by splashing a front page headliner article on their paper (and site) which essentially asked this question: Do you know whether YOUR doctor is a criminal? (Note: I am not going to link to the article because it’s behind a registration wall and because I have no desire to drive more traffic into their site when they are reporting in such a shoddy fashion)

They led the article off with our doctor’s case, which is still pending against him. No more details are available today than in March, 2006. Worse yet, their reporter waited outside his office until an elderly patient left so that they could “inform” her daughter of the charges pending and get her reaction to the possibility that her elderly mother’s doctor stood ACCUSED (not convicted, mind you) of Medicare fraud. Of course, this lady reacted predictably, saying that she wasn’t sure she wanted her mother to have an accused doctor as her mother’s provider.

Not satisfied with that insinuation, they went on to talk about three other cases where doctors have been convicted in criminal courts. Not of Medicare fraud, though. Two were convicted of peddling painkillers (Oxycontin, specifically) and one was convicted of beating his wife within an inch of her life. While I’m still uncertain about the actual focus of the article beyond smearing someone presumed innocent, their point seemed to be that as patients, we DESERVE TO KNOW everything about our medical providers.

Now the facts are that the three who were convicted (and 2 are still serving time) of criminal and violent acts (I consider dealing painkillers to be a violent act) have that in their state-maintained database record. Our doctor doesn’t have anything in his record, nor should he. He hasn’t been convicted of anything. I’d say we’ve been informed fully. Yet, as one commenter on the article noted, the gist of the article seems to be for the reader to react by saying,

“Thank God the Star warned us before we actually SAW him! Thank You Ventura County Star!”. It drips from the story.

I really can’t stand it when someone is smeared this way. They used the sensationalism of unrelated crimes committed by doctors to threaten the livelihood of a well-respected and valued member of our community. At best, it’s irresponsible reporting. At worst, it’s an outright smear campaign. A bit of irony here: This doctor was a guest columnist for the Star in the past, writing on health issues such as thyroid disorders and diabetes long before this story broke. He was good enough to write for them, but not worth an objective story from them.

The real disservice they do to their readers, though, involves the shift of focus from the real issues plaguing the healthcare system to people and personalities in the name of sensational headlines. Yes, it’s probably not quite as sexy for them to write about why medical students are turning away from primary care practice in droves, but that’s a far more pressing issue. It’s probably not as sexy for them to write about how Arnold Schwarzenegger’s health care proposals will probably force medical students out of general practice because they will not be able to sustain payment of their student loans with the reduction in income. (More on this to come on the political blog when I have time), but it’s a much more urgent issue.

The disservice they do to their community goes even deeper. This city has a population of 60,000. Familydoctor.org lists nine general practitioners for this zip code. In reality, there are three. The others have offices in adjacent communities or practice in this city one or two days per week. Let that sink in. THREE family practitioners for a city of 60,000.

Yet the newspaper doesn’t think that’s a story worth printing. Is it any wonder that print newspapers and mainstream media are in a deep decline?

Update: Doc Searls, with just a touch of telepathic sympathy, just posted a great piece about “the story behind the story“.

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  • Hi Doc and thanks for the link back and comment.

    I've seen Absence of Malice and agree -- it's a great movie on the subject. And even though my intellect tells me this is the way it has been since the beginning of time, my intuition tells me that there is a way to tell a story without skewing it or distorting it in this way.

    A couple of years back I called the Star to see if they'd do a piece on our High School drumline, since they were sweeping their competitions and were on the fast track to win the championships in Southern California for the first time in their school history. The editor at the time asked me why on earth she would want to do a story on this drumline when Ventura County had truly fine, consistently winning drumlines (Newbury Park, Moorpark, etc).

    I had to invent a "story" about how some of the kids on the line were "at risk" and how participating kept them from failing, dropping out, or turning to more destructive escapes from difficult home environments. Though there were a few that were in that category, most of the kids weren't. They did do the story, and did it from that angle which gave the kids and school some much-needed positive publicity, but the real story really wasn't told -- that a lot of good kids came together and worked hard to win. That story, without the 'at risk' angle, wasn't sexy enough for them.
  • This is an awful story. It also isn't new. It's been part of Journalism as Usual for the duration.

    The best piece ever written about this was "Toward a Journalism of Consciousness" by D. Patrick Miller, in The Sun, a quarter century ago. I'm sure it's never made it online, though it should.

    The best movie on the same subject is Absence of Malice, with Paul Newman, Sally Field, Bob Balaban and Wilford Brimley at his rusty crusty best. That one, at least, is available for renting.
  • "Is it any wonder that print newspapers and mainstream media are in a deep decline?"

    Someday when things die down - I will go into more detail. But for now - no surprise here. It is sad that the media needs or think they need to - over dramatize, become over invasive, and mislead with the sensational headlines - to get ratings.

    If the majority of people stopped watching or stopped reading you think they might change. Perhaps that is what is happening now - I know wishful thinking!

    It is hard to define where the right to know ends and the right to privacy begins.
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