Reorganization Will Block Information Flow
Commentary by Contributing Editor John Hope
Decades ago, when I made the difficult decision to leave my position as a statehouse reporter for a major daily newspaper to become a state agency public information officer, one of the things that helped convince me to make the change was the belief held by the governor’s press secretary, a former Associated Press reporter, that both reporters and agency communications staffers had the same goal — to provide factual information to the public. The roles of both reporters and agency communications staff have changed significantly over the years since I made the switch.
Where I was encouraged to see my role in the agency as communicating important factual information to the public through a variety of media, today’s agency press officers are encouraged to think of themselves as public relations gatekeepers whose role is to present the agency and its leaders in a good light and to block any effort by the mainstream and trade media to get past them to get factual information for their audiences.
FDA Webview publisher and editor Jim Dickinson and others have clearly described in these pages how the FDA communications policies and staff evolved to prevent as much media access to factual information as possible. But, as bad as the agency’s (and all other government agencies’) communications commitment has become over the years, it is about to become significantly worse.
As part of the wholesale firing of FDA staff, most if not all of the agency’s communications staffers have been let go. While as reporters we deal mostly with agency media representatives, many other types of communications activities occur behind the scenes. Writing about the shakeup, the New York Times says many of the fired employees worked on social media, newsletters, informational campaigns, and personal outreach to translate complicated scientific studies into accessible guidance and to ensure that the recommendations and cutting-edge research produced in HHS offices reached the people who needed them.
Reportedly, HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., intends to consolidate the communications function for all HHS units within his office, supposedly to increase transparency and information flow. He has promised “radical transparency” and declared that “both science and democracy flourish from the free and unimpeded flow of information.”
As difficult as it has been for us as reporters to breach the FDA press staff to obtain the information our subscribers need or to gain access to agency officials who can and will answer questions, it will become essentially impossible if the staff members are no longer associated with FDA in its headquarters but instead are part of the very large HHS with multiple responsibilities to FDA, CDC, NIH, and many other units. Media deadlines that had little meaning to FDA staffers will have no meaning to HHS staff.
Given the way things have unfolded since RFK, Jr., was nominated, it is hard not to expect that the only information that will flow from HHS will be statements that promote his bizarre views of science and public health and do nothing to give the people of the United States the information they need to stay healthy and even alive.
You may wonder why I haven’t cited comments from the new FDA commissioner, Martin Makary, defending the agency and its mission and staff. That’s because there haven’t been any. Although he has been sworn in and reportedly is at work, he has said nothing publicly about the turmoil that is unfolding.
For all we at FDA Webview complained about how the FDA press staff interfered with our ability to do our jobs, we will count the days until they come back to the agency and we can complain about them again.