![\"STAT](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gideon-Gil-headshot-February-2025-zoomed-839x1024.jpg\")
STAT Managing Editor & AHCJ Board President Gideon Gil<\/p>\nSTAT Managing Editor & AHCJ Board President Gideon Gil<\/p>\n
Dear AHCJ members,<\/p>\n
I\u2019m honored to be the new board president of AHCJ, and I want to take this opportunity to share my priorities in this challenging time for those of us lucky enough to cover health care.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve long believed that there\u2019s no more important beat in journalism.\u00a0Our work touches\u00a0everyone, by giving readers, viewers and listeners critical, evidence-based and unbiased information about illnesses, treatments, public policy and the business of health care.\u00a0Our role has never been more important than now, when the public has a hard time sorting fact from fiction on social media, in influencers\u2019 TikTok videos and politicians\u2019 words. And yet, in this polarized world,\u00a0we\u2019re portrayed as peddling falsehoods and face near-constant trolling.\u00a0Many of you work for news organizations that are cutting back, or you\u2019re independent journalists trying to make ends meet. You\u2019re pressed for time and crave training, moral support, and community.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where AHCJ can help you, as it helped me when I joined 25 years ago. As the lone medical reporter at the Louisville Courier-Journal, I sometimes felt isolated and overwhelmed, struggling to feed the daily news beast while writing in-depth enterprise, and to master the intricacies of a broad swath of topics. Through\u00a0AHCJ\u2019s website<\/a>,\u00a0conferences<\/a>\u00a0and listserv, I found\u00a0tip sheets<\/a>, story ideas, sources, inspiration and friendships.\u00a0True to its mission, AHCJ helped me become a more skilled journalist.<\/p>\n My agenda for the next two years is to\u00a0build on the solid foundation\u00a0to offer even more resources to help you do your jobs, and to expand and diversify our membership. I will work with our exceptional executive director, Kelsey Ryan, AHCJ\u2019s terrific staff, and our volunteer board members and committees to:<\/p>\n Offer more timely\u00a0webinars<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0content\u00a0to give you the background you need to cover the news as it\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n Expand the\u00a0mentorship program<\/a>\u00a0and strengthen\u00a0local chapters<\/a>\u00a0to provide networking opportunities with colleagues.<\/p>\n Offer free training\u00a0in use of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n Broaden our membership\u00a0in terms of geography, race, ethnicity, gender, and media type, with a focus on broadcast and video journalists and people early in their careers. I also want to work with AHCJ Executive Director Kelsey Ryan to explore ways to\u00a0expand our international membership.<\/p>\n