Healthbeat: Filling the gaps in local public health reporting

Our friends at KFF, formerly Kaiser Family Foundation, pitched us before the pandemic about doing a health beat, like Chalkbeat, but for public health. KFF is our partner in the project. When COVID-19 hit, we saw why public health and, in particular, the decisions made by the local health department matter so much.”

Elizabeth Green, founder and CEO, Civic News Company

The world is awash in information. Most of it is vital, some is frivolous, and too much is purposely inaccurate. Despite the information overflow, local news outlets and media do an outstanding job of reporting what is most important to their communities. However, business challenges and newsroom reductions make it difficult to comprehensively cover the topics of the most value to the public.

This gap in reporting was the impetus for Philissa Cramer and Elizabeth Green to launch GothamSchools in 2008 to provide education coverage in New York City. Fast forward to 2013 when the Education News Network, a merger of GothamSchools and EdNews Colorado, became Chalkbeat. Today, Chalkbeat has local bureaus in eight states and a national news bureau. In 2020, Votebeat was launched to report on local election administration. Civic News Company was formed in 2023, with Green as CEO, as an umbrella organization. A third platform, Healthbeat, was added in August 2024.

“Our friends at KFF, formerly Kaiser Family Foundation, pitched us before the pandemic about doing a health beat, like Chalkbeat, but for public health. KFF is our partner in the project. When COVID-19 hit, we saw why public health and, in particular, the decisions made by the local health department matter so much,” Green said.

The coverage in Chalkbeat and Healthbeat is driven by independent accountability journalism and serving a community-centered audience to fill gaps in important information. Civic News Company strives to engage local funders to support the work. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided anchor support to launch Healthbeat. Support also comes from Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist who publishes the Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) newsletter. She is also a Healthbeat partner. Healthbeat is working with Jetelina on a local version of YLE for New York, which Dr. Marisa Donnelly will write.

Healthbeat hosted a breakfast in Atlanta to engage with people working on public health issues — from academic and medical experts to social workers and community organizers.

After many years at The Miami Herald and other news organizations, Charlene Pacenti was ready for a career move. Having reported on local education in Miami, she was aware of Chalkbeat and was chosen to be the editor-in-chief of Healthbeat.

“The atmosphere is very optimistic as compared to more commercial media. I love the model of having local funders, which seems more democratic than having hedge funds in charge. We’re mission-focused and with less pressure to generate clicks tied to ad rates. It’s about what impact can we have on the community, and that’s very fulfilling,” Pacenti said.

She leads an experienced staff of public health reporters in New York and Atlanta, the first two Healthbeat bureaus, with more planned. Dr. Donnelly isn’t the only health professional on the staff. Dr. Amy Maxmen is the national reporter from her position as a public health correspondent at KFF Health News.

Healthbeat staff, from left to right, Mariah Espada, Healthbeat engagement editor; Rebecca Grapevine, Atlanta reporter; and Charlene Pacenti, editor-in-chief, arrived for a community conversation with people working on public health issues in Atlanta.

According to Pacenti, Healthbeat focuses on three broad topics: infectious diseases, accountability of the public health system and serving professionals in the local communities who work on public health issues.

“Since we launched in August 2024, we’ve received an excellent response, especially from those working on various aspects of public health in their communities, from the local health department to social workers to experts at local universities. We’ve hosted events with them in New York and Atlanta, and they tell us they value a credible source of science-based health information,” Pacenti said.

In addition to local events, Healthbeat also publishes two newsletters, with a third coming soon for Atlanta readers. All Civic News platforms encourage free republishing of their content, which has proven helpful for local news outlets and to educate the public about public health issues.

Bob Sillick has held many senior positions and served a myriad of clients during his 47 years in marketing and advertising. He has been a freelance/contract content researcher, writer, editor and manager since 2010.  He can be reached at bobsillick@gmail.com.