See the reaction after this brief article...
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2009/01/06/obama_wants_journalist_for_sur.html?hpid=topnews
Here are some comments from my fellow health care journalism colleagues on the Association of Health Care Journalists list serve:
- But that's the question: is the SG position all about being a good communicator or is there more to it--like actually setting public health policy?
- The job...is really whatever the person who has it makes it. Over the years, it's been stripped of virtually all of its actual authority save that of head of the commissioned corps....Word floating around is that Gupta has also been offered an appointment on the White House task force on health reform, which would be interesting. But keep in mind that the most effective SG's have been those with very strong personalities, like Koop...
- I believe that the greatest asset that Gupta can bring to the job is name recognition. Let's face it, most Americans have no idea who the Surgeon General is, or what the current platform is--except in rare cases like Koop, where he aggressively spoke about a very urgent problem--AIDS! Gupta is already well known and well liked by the public, and may I be so bold as to say that millions already trust what he has to say. If he can combine his name recognition/reputation with a bold message, especially one in preventive health, people might actually pay more attention. Overall, I think it was a brilliant choice to give a very well known and high profile physician the position. No matter how brilliant or well meaning a Surgeon General may be, if he/she is not a good and effective speaker, and can't connect with a large audience, then no one is going to pay attention. I also think that the Obama administration is less likely to put any restrictions on the Surgeon General, and will give him as free a reign as possible.
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