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More than 1.6 million readers include The Washington Post in their daily-recommended news allowance (2.4 million on Sundays), and a hefty percentage read the paper's weekly
Health section religiously. The "Second Opinion" column, penned by veteran journalist (Post special correspondent, TIME, U.S. News and World Report) and former Health desk editor,
Abigail Trafford, ranks among the holiest of grails in healthcare media relations. Trafford is a noted author of several volumes on healthcare and family topics
If there's a hot issue up for debate in the healthcare arena, Trafford is on it. Among the topics she's tackled of late: post-partum depression, stem cell research, nursing
shortages, skyrocketing drug costs, mental illness, HMO coverage of contraceptives, end-of-life care for children, stereotypes against the elderly and drawbacks associated with
implantable defibrillators (such as the kind currently housed in Vice President Cheney's chest). Trafford also writes investigative, enterprise stories every few months and hosts
online "Health Talk" discussions at WashingtonPost.com. Expert sources cited in her columns sometimes reappear as online guests.
Contact: [email protected].
Pitch Tips
Although the Post's Health section comes out on Tuesdays, Trafford says Wednesdays are her most hectic days, as she's usually working ahead to meet column deadlines
(Wednesdays, close of business) for the following week. She tends to develop several columns simultaneously (some red hot, some not).
Trafford has few notable peeves, although she tends to cringe at rambling messages that fill up her voicemail box. You're better off sending email - and making sure the subject
header is compelling. "I'll know from the headline whether I'll be interested or not," she says. "And although I never have time to reply to everyone, I like scanning the headers.
It makes me feel like I know what's going on."
Comments
Trafford doesn't break news so much as she chews it up and spits it back out with a fresh perspective. "As a columnist, I need to say something more - to take information about
something that's going on and make a statement about it," she says. While she doesn't get annoyed when PR people mistake her role at the paper and pitch her with hard news, she
builds bonds with those who understand what it means to be a columnist. "Obviously, my pieces have to have a certain outrage because someone is suffering, or something is
happening that shouldn't be happening," she says. "If you hear something and your first impulse is to turn to your colleague and say, 'God, did you see this?' then that's when you
ought to call me."
In The Pipeline
If breaking news - or better yet, a juicy exclusive - is in your bag, Trafford isn't your best contact, but the Health desk editors at The Post will want the skinny. A weekly
feature, slugged "The Scan," offers short news items on all things health-related. (Last week: inhalable insulin treatments for diabetics, plus pharmaceutical research.)
Similarly, "Quick Study" analyzes the latest research findings, on topics ranging from soy-based baby formula to constipation as an indicator of risk for Parkinson's disease,
providing contextual comparisons to previous studies. The Health section closes on Friday afternoons, although breaking news sometimes sneaks in on Mondays.
Contact Health Editor Craig Stoltz at [email protected] or Assistant Editor Susan Morse at [email protected]. Or fax them at 202/334-6471.