The Biased Media: The Never Ending Unfair Battle for PAs [Part II]

 Continued from Part I

So how did they slip into these non-transparent behaviors?

            Essentially, at the core of their mischaracterized printed or broadcasted reports was the fact they did not bother to research nor present factually the issues. Instead, should they have shown/depicted a much more balanced view of a group of highly schooled and skilled healthcare professionals: namely us (PAs), we certainly would have been more appreciative of such a portrayal. Unfortunately, all three networks chose to forego their journalistic responsibility and the ethics of news reporting leading to these grossly and inaccurately misrepresentations of our highly validated & well-respected profession.

            Frustratingly, these media PA coverage examples illustrated the inherent partisan egregious blunders each TV network committed and failed to apologize for their offensive, irresponsible, and insulting aired transgressions. Generally speaking, these dismissive organizations not only lose value in the eyes of the PA community but credibility as well. Clearly, not correcting their errors will only resonate negatively in our minds when it comes to media transparency. Thus, allowing their corporate & journalistic arrogance to alienate us even further.

So the question in the mind of this author and perhaps many of my peers is the following: Isn’t “transparency” supposed to be bi-directional? If we as clinicians, are urged and expected to talk openly about our mistakes, foibles, and disclose harm done to patients, and apologize promptly and sincerely, shouldn’t we expect the same from the business/TV industry media outlets?

            Therefore, doesn’t the PA profession deserve the same degree of respect, and transparency in return? So far, it does appear that being transparent to the healthcare consumer is not nearly as important as garnishing high TV ratings, or even if it’s disparaging a venerable profession. Frankly, these examples illustrate the inherent egregious distasteful blunders the media outlets committed while failing to apologize for their offensive and insulting transactional transgressions.

            It is obvious that these transparent journalistic Faux Pas certainly have opened the doors to speculation and debate on some companies' understanding of this expected new transactional behavioral accountability. In short, transparent relationships do matter if you expect to have a trusted engaged readership, and/or viewership in these cases. 

            In the world of the competitive diminishing market share & good customer relationship management, one thing is (and should be) key--transparency must be at the top of the list; anything less than that would be a problematic agenda for a TV producer and/or reporter.…don’t you think?

Plus, even though the “assistant” moniker did help our cause, nor shouldn’t we sit idle and allow this to hamper or stall our progression nor eliminate our corrective voices and participation when the time requires it.

These negative attitudes of exclusion are the surest sign of divisiveness in our society. And, yes, I do not consider myself overly sensitive, but truthfully, this form of stereotyping & ridicule contributes nothing but continued misperceptions and misunderstandings. Looking closely at these factors, we can easily conclude we no longer need interprofessional segregation but rather interprofessional acceptance & tolerance for a common goal for our patients.