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All the News That Doesn’t Cost Us Anything
By
Harry Jaffe
The Washington Post has found a new way to cut costs: publish news without paying for it.
Tuesday’s Health & Science section leads with two articles written by reporters with Kaiser Health News. The relatively new operation is financed by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Its web site says KHN is “dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible analysis and information on health issues.” Its articles are available to “partner news organizations and the public free of charge.”
For the Post, using Kaiser Health News amounts to outsourcing the news at no cost. For the publisher, trying to save every dollar, it beats paying your own reporters.
Don’t get me wrong: Kaiser Health News is a legit news operation, based on the proposition that good journalism can come from newsrooms supported by nonprofits. Laurie McGinley, executive editor for news at KHN, is a veteran Washington reporter. She got her start at States News Service and wrote for the Wall Street Journal for 27 years and she covered national health care policy. The Kaiser staff is studded with veteran journalists from National Public Radio, the Baltimore Sun, and other newsrooms.
Kaiser Health News comes with ties to the Washington Post. Former Post executive editor Leonard Downie is chairman of its national advisory committee. Washington Post Company senior vice president Gerald Rosberg sits on the Kaiser Family Foundation board.
The foundation, which supports the news service, says it is “not associated” with health insurance giant Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries. Industrialist Henry Kaiser and his wife Bess established the foundation in 1948. It’s not likely that Henry and Bess could anticipate their money would wind up providing free news content for the Washington Post.
What the Post gains is a slight boost to its balance sheet by cutting editorial expenses. What it loses is a newspaper that readers come to for original content they cannot find elsewhere. More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Party Photos
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Comments
Its unfortunate that as a result of the internet the print media watches its subscribers dwindle and consequently there are fewer opportunities for freelancers attempting to break into the print. The Washingtonian now finds its necessary to look for free sources. That doesn’t speak well of the publication, but the upside is the internet remains fertile and unexplored territory for writers and innovative new business models. I’m convinced free content is not the answer. Experienced talented resourceful writers don’t come free.
Posted by: William, Dec 05, 2009 06:31:54 AM
I suggest really checking into the history of the Kaiser Family Foundation and Kaiser Permanente before believing there is a complete separation between the organizations. Kaiser Permanente has been busted repeatedly by regulators in California for some heinous practices yet for unknown reasons this is NEVER reported on by the "Kaiser Family Foundation".
Posted by: John InCA, Dec 02, 2009 04:36:42 AM
Kate: Because the Post pays the AP and Reuters (and Kiplinger) for the privilege.
Posted by: Joseph Abbott, Dec 01, 2009 10:43:31 AM
But how is the Post running Kaiser health news (or consumer financial news from Kiplinger, as they do on the weekends) any different from running an AP or Reuters story from the wire?
Posted by: Kate, Dec 01, 2009 09:40:49 AM
In this same vein, I noticed over the weekend that the three articles on the front page of the Travel section all had the byline "Special to the Washington Post" as opposed to "Washington Post Staff Writer."
Posted by: Dave, Dec 01, 2009 09:31:31 AM
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