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Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Opinion - America doesn't trust the media, we do trust nurses. What can one learn from the other?
We recently celebrated Nurses' Week, when we see nurses receiving thanks for their hard work and dedication to health care. This recognition is essential, and our community needs to hear it. And then, for the most part, nurses will fade from coverage again until the next year. Indeed, for more than two decades, nurses have appeared in only about 2 percent of health news reporting. During that time, two facts have remained unchanged: Nurses make up the largest sector of the healthcare workforce, with a caring presence in every practice setting, and we have been consistently named the most trusted profession, according to Gallup. One thing that has changed? The simultaneous and rapid decline of trust in mass media — and the rapid rise of misinformation, disinformation and political propaganda in turn. Journalism is, in fact, one of the least trusted professions today. It follows that, as American journalism scrambles to rescue its newsrooms, the industry would benefit from not just including nurses in their coverage but from adopting a nursing model and lens. Nurses are trusted to enter people's homes, deliver their babies, clean their wounds and prepare their dead for burial. That trust is not accidental; we cultivate it. Nurses must forge genuine connections with every person they meet in order to be clinically effective. Genuine connection requires unconditional respect — even if a person has done or said (or represents) what you believe to be abhorrent. Our colleagues in journalism cannot say the same. And so, we find that nurses are not being shut out of national discourse because of something we lack; we are being shut out because something is lacking in journalism today. Those who claim to be curious are often only selectively curious. Those who claim to speak truth to power might, in fact, be blind to the ways in which they rest in their own power — and uphold harmful power structures. Across the political spectrum, journalists project the confidence of people who hold the truth. In panel discussions, anchor monologues and reporting, they often start with what they know and confirm their knowing. One thing nurses know, on the other hand, is how to recognize what we don't know. We could not possibly know the complex worlds from which our patients emerge, carrying their baggage, hope and trauma to the doors of our clinics and emergency rooms. So we ask. The first step in the nursing process is 'assess.' To assess a situation means asking questions and receiving answers without judgement. It often means sitting with someone in narrative messiness, contradictions and non-answers. It can mean allowing someone to (at least for now) hold onto a false belief as they grapple with a painful or confusing new reality. Nurses prioritize people's stated need, even if it's not our clinical priority. We validate people's concerns, even if we do not share those concerns. Asking and listening without judgement is the first step in building trust. Yes, it is common for journalists to ask questions, but for many, judgement is inherent to their professional paradigm. The 'journalist-judge' already knows what their audience needs. So, they scrutinize the relevance of honest human responses, discarding the messy bits, carefully curating a gallery of their own design. Nurses, on the other hand, practice informed consent. We lay out all the options, discuss the pros and cons, and let people decide their own course of action. When it comes to giving advice, we use proven, science-based communication tactics to motivate behavior change — teachable tactics that journalistic interviewers could use, too. We collaborate and encourage; we don't tell or force. We know that telling a person stuck in an unhealthy thought or behavior pattern what to do will only lead to resentment or rejection. We do not mock, interrupt or condescend. In fact, we aim to speak in accessible ways — to speak at a slow pace, define new terms, and confirm that people have heard and understood (using techniques like 'say back'). We aim to bring everyone along, not just those with university educations who can speak English or (in the case of broadcast news) process rapid speech between commercial breaks. Finally, nurses stay, even when everyone else has left — even when there are no resources. Studies show we are often the last clinician to remain when hospitals and clinics fail, and when rural towns are left with no other healthcare infrastructure. We know it is cruel to see people suffering, offer hope and resources, and then take those resources away. Nurses stay after journalists leave, too. Wildfires that rage across television screens, houses that float away, death tolls that are unprecedented rarely receive a follow-up by our colleagues who cover them. And how often does the coverage include an actionable take-away, such as a QR code for donations, phone numbers for help lines, or any mechanism for collective action? The fact that journalists can hold captive to millions of viewers and readers and, quite often, not share anything actionable is unacceptable. You bring the horrors of this world into our lives and leave us with little more than political pseudo-solutions and bipartisan blame. Has this worked yet? The fact is, newsrooms across the country are failing. Those that survive will be the ones who recognize it's time for a radical departure from business as usual. Good stories, gathered and told through a nursing lens, have the potential to heal our country. They might save our newsrooms, too. Rose Hayes, RN, BSN, MA, is a nurse and a writer who helps scientists and clinicians to share their work with the public. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of any institutional affiliations. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
20-03-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
Robert E. Ginna Jr., whose article bolstered UFO claims, dies at 99
Advertisement To the general public, though, he was perhaps best known for an article he wrote with H.B. Darrach Jr. for the April 7, 1952, issue of Life magazine. The cover featured an alluring photograph of Marilyn Monroe under the headline 'There Is a Case for Interplanetary Saucers.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up To Mr. Ginna's eternal dismay, the article made him a target for UFO buffs and kooks. Headlined 'Have We Visitors From Space?' it examined 10 reports of unidentified flying object sightings, followed by an unequivocal assessment from German rocket expert Walther Riedel: 'I am completely convinced that they have an out-of-world basis.' While reports of UFOs in the late 1940s were often trivialized, Phillip J. Hutchison and Herbert J. Strentz wrote in American Journalism in 2019: "By the early 1950s, however, more substantial human-interest features embraced the idea that U.F.O. reports might correspond to extraterrestrial Earth visitors. A widely cited April 7, 1952, Life magazine feature titled 'Have We Visitors From Space?' represents one of the most influential examples of the latter trend." Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who led the Air Force's internal UFO investigation, Project Blue Book, wrote in 'The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects' in 1956 that 'the Life article undoubtedly threw a harder punch at the American public than any other UFO article ever written.' Other reporters had visited the Air Technical Intelligence Center (now the National Air and Space Intelligence Center), in Dayton, Ohio, he wrote, but 'for some reason the name LIFE, the prospects of a feature story, and the feeling that this Bob Ginna was going to ask questions caused sweat to flow at ATIC.' Advertisement "Life didn't say that the U.F.O.s were from outer space; it just said maybe," he added. "But to back up this 'maybe,' it had quotes from some famous people," including Riedel. (In 2024, a congressionally mandated Pentagon report concluded that there was no evidence that any UFO sightings represented alien visits.) Throughout his career, Mr. Ginna 'carved his own path,' Jeremy Gerard, a critic, biographer and former reporter for The New York Times, said in an email. He "quoted Yeats and O'Casey" and "valued his correspondences with many of the great writers of his time," Gerard noted, and he wasn't afraid to go his own way, "leaving People when its direction didn't please him, devoting himself to teaching when the literary world was changing at warp speed, worshipping at the altar of the written word." Robert Emmett Ginna Jr. was born on Dec. 3, 1925, in Brooklyn. He was named for Irish patriot Robert Emmet, as was his father, an electrical engineer who became the chair of Rochester Gas and Electric. His mother, Margaret (McCall) Ginna, was the daughter of Irish immigrants. In addition to his son, Peter, an editor and writer, he is survived by his daughter, Mary Frances Williams Ginna; a sister, Margretta Michie; two grandchildren; and a great-grandson. His wife, Margaret (Williams) Ginna, died in 2004. His first marriage, to Patricia Ellis, ended in divorce; they had no children. After his wife's death, he was the companion of journalist Gail Sheehy, who died in 2020. Advertisement After graduating from the Aquinas Institute of Rochester, he enrolled at Harvard College, but dropped out to join the Navy when he was 17 and served in the Pacific during World War II. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1948. Mr. Ginna envisioned a career in medical research and was already working in a laboratory when, traveling in France, he was struck by what he described as an epiphany as he gazed at one of the rose windows at the cathedral in Chartres. He returned home and changed direction, earning a master's degree in art history at Harvard and working briefly as a curator of painting and sculpture at the Newark Museum of Art. Later in his 20s, Mr. Ginna was a freelance writer for the Gannett group of newspapers before joining Life in 1950. His interview of Irish dramatist Sean O'Casey for NBC would inspire him to produce a film called 'Young Cassidy' (1965), based on O'Casey's memoir. (Sean Connery was supposed to star, but opted to play James Bond instead.) Mr. Ginna also produced 'Before Winter Comes' (1969), starring David Niven, Anna Karina, John Hurt, and Israeli actor Topol, and 'Brotherly Love' (1970), starring Peter O'Toole and Susannah York. 'As a producer, Ginna may have had limitations,' Salter wrote of their Hollywood misadventures in his memoir, 'Burning the Days' (1997). 'He was scrupulously honest. He was a classicist — his interests were cultural, his knowledge large — and unequivocal in his statements and beliefs.' After working at People, where he was a founding editor in 1974, he went on to serve as editor-in-chief of Little, Brown from 1977 to 1980, his son said. There, he published 'Coma,' the first medical thriller by Cook. He then briefly returned to Time Inc., which was trying to revive Life. Beginning in 1987, he taught writing and film at Harvard University. He took his final publishing job at 80, starting an academic press at New England College, in Henniker, N.H. Advertisement When Mr. Ginna was in his early 70s, he traversed the length of Ireland, lugging a 38-pound rucksack, a journey he recounted in 'The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present' (2003). In 2016, at 90, he retired from teaching but continued to write. He left an uncompleted memoir titled 'Epiphanies.' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Robert E. Ginna Jr., Whose Article Bolstered U.F.O. Claims, Dies at 99
Robert E. Ginna Jr., a founding editor of People magazine, a book editor and a film producer whose 1952 Life magazine article provoked a frenzy by validating the idea that flying saucers might exist and could have visited Earth from outer space, died on March 4 at his home in Sag Harbor, N.Y. His death was confirmed by his son, Peter St. John Ginna. He was 99. Mr. Ginna (pronounced gun-NAY) enjoyed a wide-ranging, eight-decade career. As the editor in chief of Little, Brown, he persuaded the acclaimed novelist James Salter to shift from screenplays to books and discovered Dr. Robin Cook as an author of thrillers. He also produced movies and was part of the team that started People as a highbrow showcase for profiles of cultural figures like Graham Greene and Vladimir Nabokov, but quit when the magazine descended into what he viewed as celebrity fluff. To the general public, though, he was perhaps best known for an article he wrote with H.B. Darrach Jr. for the April 7, 1952, issue of Life magazine. The cover featured an alluring photograph of Marilyn Monroe under the headline 'There Is a Case for Interplanetary Saucers.' To Mr. Ginna's eternal dismay, the article made him a target for U.F.O. buffs and kooks. Headlined 'Have We Visitors From Space?,' it examined 10 reports of unidentified flying object sightings, followed by an unequivocal assessment from the German rocket expert Walther Riedel: 'I am completely convinced that they have an out-of-world basis.' While reports of U.F.O.s in the late 1940s were often trivialized, Phillip J. Hutchison and Herbert J. Strentz wrote in American Journalism in 2019: 'By the early 1950s, however, more substantial human-interest features embraced the idea that U.F.O. reports might correspond to extraterrestrial Earth visitors. A widely cited April 7, 1952, Life magazine feature titled 'Have We Visitors From Space?' represents one of the most influential examples of the latter trend.' Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, who led the Air Force's internal U.F.O. investigation, Project Blue Book, wrote in 'The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects' in 1956 that 'the Life article undoubtedly threw a harder punch at the American public than any other U.F.O. article ever written.' Other reporters had visited the Air Technical Intelligence Center (now the National Air and Space Intelligence Center), in Dayton, Ohio, he wrote, but 'for some reason the name LIFE, the prospects of a feature story, and the feeling that this Bob Ginna was going to ask questions caused sweat to flow at ATIC.' 'Life didn't say that the U.F.O.s were from outer space; it just said maybe,' he added. 'But to back up this 'maybe,' it had quotes from some famous people,' including Dr. Riedel. (In 2024, a congressionally mandated Pentagon report concluded that there was no evidence that any U.F.O. sightings represented alien visits.) Throughout his career, Mr. Ginna 'carved his own path,' Jeremy Gerard, a critic, biographer and former reporter for The New York Times, said in an email. He 'quoted Yeats and O'Casey' and 'valued his correspondences with many of the great writers of his time,' Mr. Gerard noted, and he wasn't afraid to go his own way, 'leaving People when its direction didn't please him, devoting himself to teaching when the literary world was changing at warp speed, worshiping at the altar of the written word.' Robert Emmett Ginna Jr. was born on Dec. 3, 1925, in Brooklyn. He was named for the Irish patriot Robert Emmet, as was his father, an electrical engineer who became the chairman of Rochester Gas and Electric. His mother, Margaret (McCall) Ginna, was the daughter of Irish immigrants. In addition to his son, Peter, an editor and writer, he is survived by his daughter, Mary Frances Williams Ginna; a sister, Margretta Michie; two grandchildren; and a great-grandson. His wife, Margaret (Williams) Ginna, died in 2004. His first marriage, to Patricia Ellis, ended in divorce; they had no children. After his wife's death, he was the companion of the journalist Gail Sheehy, who died in 2020. After graduating from the Aquinas Institute of Rochester, he enrolled at Harvard College, but dropped out to join the Navy when he was 17 and served in the Pacific during World War II. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1948. Mr. Ginna envisioned a career in medical research and was already working in a laboratory when, traveling in France, he was struck by what he described as an epiphany as he gazed at one of the rose windows at the cathedral in Chartres. He returned home and changed direction, earning a master's degree in art history at Harvard and working briefly as a curator of painting and sculpture at the Newark Museum of Art. Later in his 20s, Mr. Ginna was a freelance writer for the Gannett group of newspapers before joining Life in 1950. His interview of the Irish dramatist Sean O'Casey for NBC would inspire him to produce a film called 'Young Cassidy' (1965), based on Mr. O'Casey's memoir. (Sean Connery was supposed to star, but opted to play James Bond instead.) Mr. Ginna also produced 'Before Winter Comes' (1969), starring David Niven, Anna Karina, John Hurt and the Israeli actor Topol, and 'Brotherly Love' (1970), starring Peter O'Toole and Susannah York. 'As a producer, Ginna may have had limitations,' Mr. Salter wrote of their Hollywood misadventures in his memoir, 'Burning the Days' (1997). 'He was scrupulously honest. He was a classicist — his interests were cultural, his knowledge large — and unequivocal in his statements and beliefs.' After working at People, where he was a founding editor in 1974, he went on to serve as editor in chief of Little, Brown from 1977 to 1980, his son said. There, he published 'Coma,' the first medical thriller by Dr. Cook. He then briefly returned to Time Inc., which was trying to revive Life. Beginning in 1987, he taught writing and film at Harvard University. He took his final publishing job at 80, starting an academic press at New England College, in Henniker, N.H. When Mr. Ginna was in his early 70s, he traversed the length of Ireland, lugging a 38-pound rucksack, a journey he recounted in 'The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present' (2003). In 2016, at 90, he retired from teaching but continued to write. He left an uncompleted memoir titled 'Epiphanies.'
