40-million uninsured Americans. 15 percent of the GNP spent on health care. Medicare in trouble. States squeezed to manage Medicaid. Just a few things in the news, yet local TV news doesn't find time for many of these issues.
See my J school's summer magazine for a glimpse of my 2004 election year research on TV news health policy (non)coverage, and for a look at some of my colleagues' health communications research interests.