Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Leslie Boyd announced today that she’s quitting her job to work full-time on advocating for health care reform through an organization she helped establish in the name of her son, who died of cancer.
Boyd’s announcement comes about two weeks after local bloggers and Erika Franzi, the organizer of the Asheville Tea Party protests, called attention to Boyd’s work and alleged that she’d violated the newspaper’s code of ethics governing reporters and their behavior when it comes to covering the news. Background is here and here.
Here’s Boyd’s statement:
Today is my last day at the Asheville Citizen-Times. I have chosen to step down — I was offered the chance to stay — because it’s time for me to turn to health care education and advocacy full time. This lousy, broken health care system we have has killed more than a quarter million people since the turn of the millennium. I will admit that my son being one of them spurred me into a more active role, but I was writing about the crisis in 1992 when only 16 million people were without access to health care; today that number is over 52 million, according to a study by Families USA, and it’s climbing.
There comes a time when one has to make a move, and that’s where I am. This is a leap of faith, and I do believe I’ve been led to do this. It isn’t about the politics because Life o’ Mike has several programs we want to implement that will help and comfort people who are ill or who have disabilities and their families. We’ll be looking for volunteers to be companions to people who are newly disgnosed with a serious illness or newly disabled, and members of their families, and we hope to start a program that will allow people who are homebound to get out for an afternoon at the NC Arboretum or a ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I had thought I would take this step in about six months, but recent events have spurred me on. Erica Franzi’s posts ( I don’t read Thunderpig or the others) have made me realize I can be much more effective when I’m not working as a reporter. I’m free now to debunk misinformation about the proposed health care plan and perhaps to get people talking like grownups about what we need and whether there is a better plan than the one before Congress now.
I can tell people that they’re not going to be asked to die. The law allows doctors to be reimbursed for time spent talking to patients about living wills, and everyone should have a living will. Mike did. I do. It’s the smart thing to do no matter what age you are. You could get hit by a bus, you know.
I can inform people that Medicare is a government program and it’s a single-payer program. A study done several years ago found it had shorter wait times for elective surgery than either the Canadian or the British systems.
That’s not to say I advocate a single-payer system. As president of Life o’ Mike, my job is to debunk misinformation and encourage people to talk like grown-ups instead of shouting at each other. I do have my views, but they’re not as important here as getting people thinking about what’s the right thing to do. What I will say is that whatever plan we end up with needs to give access to quality health care to all Americans.
I also want to thank Randy Hammer, Phil Fernandez and all my colleagues for their kindness, support and understanding during my son’s illness and after his death. Randy and Phil both encouraged me to stay at the paper, but it’s time for me to go out and do this in memory of Mike and the hundreds of thousands of others who have died because they couldn’t get the care they needed.
Lifeomike.org will be back up this afternoon and I’m posting some rules of engagement, since it’s a moderated blog. If people have something civil to add to the conversation, they’re welcome to engage. If all they want is to spew hatred or call people names, their comments won’t be posted. A hint: A post that contains the words “you people,” usually won’t be kind. I have no problem with people who don’t share my views, but I will not tolerate mean.
If her reporting was done in the same manner as the statement she released then she has always been an activist apparently masquerading to be a journalist.
“I will admit that my son being one of them spurred me into a more active role, but I was writing about the crisis in 1992 when only 16 million people were without access to health care; today that number is over 52 million….”
There are not 52 million people in the US without access to health care. There may be some number of millions of people who lack health insurance but that is not the same as lacking access to health care. Not having insurance does not mean that you can’t pay out of your pocket for vacinnations & well children appts or routine physicals for yourself. If you are one of the millions of Americans who have high deductible health insurance you probably already know how this works, go to the dr, pay the bill. Most physicians will work with you on payment terms if you lack insurance coverage. If you are truly indigent then more than likely you qualify for medicaid.
All these so-called reforms and regulations in the ACA do not address access to health care which is apparently what Ms Boyd thinks the problem is, they are suppose to address the issue of access to health insurance.
Best of luck to you, Leslie!! You have the passion, you have the strength and you WILL make a change. Forget what all the haters say, you’ve made an impact and you will continue to do so.
Wait a minute. I remember the media luncheon. After the press kits were passed out and the announcements were finished, Matt Mitan and I started talking — during the meal, not during the event — about Like o’ Mike and its goals. A couple of other people got into the lunchtime conversation. I’ll bet you just disagreed with my goals and decided that my private conversation with Matt was inapprporiate. Interesting take, but wrong. As I recall, the organization was very happy with the story and the fact that I pushed for coverage on the day of the event.
Oh, and I miss you, Tommy.
You go, girl! I’m proud of you! Civil discourse and discussion. THAT would be a change!
Tommy
Sewanee, TN
Boyd, you do talk too damn much. You come off as a selfish bigmouth. You really need to deal with that. Shutup, listen and think for a change — and spit out the Koolaid while you’re at it.
I’m guessing Leslie Boyd got some sort of deal or payout to leave the paper. Otherwise, she would not be thanking and praising Hammer and Fernandez. I think it’s accurate to say that she is still drinking the Kool-Aid. She had a few decent pieces over the years, but never seemed all that interested in her work, and was mostly was kind of scattered. There are still several others who have that same work ethic at the paper.
Leslie:
Good luck and best wishes. The system certainly needs fixing so all advocates for change are a welcome thing.
Ms. Boyd interviewed several people in our organization a couple of years ago. A simple reporting job turned into several days worth of call backs, follow-ups, and utter confusionetc. She also didn’t return our calls to her as she had requested. When she came in to interview our team, all of us were shocked at how poorly prepared she was. One would think a reporter would at least present a more professional demeanor when reporting. Based on our experience with her, I would have to agree that she was not a good journalist, but then again she lasted for a while at the Citizen-Times. That tells you a lot about the newspaper.
Boyd, you do talk too damn much. You come off as a selfish bigmouth. You really need to deal with that. Shutup, listen and think for a change — and spit out the Koolaid while you’re at it.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out! What does it say about Leslie that she is friends with Hachet Hammer and Phil F.? What’s the saying? With friends like that you don’t need enemies.
Will she be missed? Several of my sources tell me that she never returned phone calls, didn’t cover a story that didn’t peak her interest etc… Good reporters find the stories and investigate – without bias.
Hammer and Fernandez may have asked her to stay. Why? Because not only did she drink the Kool Aid, she continues to sip from the pitcher.
Good riddens! Another long term Gannettoid out the door.
Sorry, Leslie if we don’t actually believe you. You’ve lost that creditability and after what About Time said it looks as if you need to go. Good Luck with your non-profit.
I was not asked to resign; I was encouraged to stay. I would not have been fired. Randy Hammer has been decent and kind since before my son died, and I consider him a friend. He is not the arbiter of how many positions there are at the Citizen-Times; that comes down from Corporate. And the word is credibility, not credit ability. You can look it up.
I like Leslie and can sympathize totally with her plight, but I can also say that this move is in the best interest of the paper. I work for a local non-profit, and Leslie attended a media lunch for one of our events on behalf of ACT. Rather than ask questions about the event like every other media rep there, she took the opportunity to plug her own non-profit; in fact, she did nothing but talk about life o’ mike from almost the very moment she walked in. At one point my boss wanted to tell her it was a media lunch for US, not for HER. Felt like a definite conflict of interest to me…
Only slightly better than Sarah Palin’s farewell, with a pinch of resigned-because-I-was-about-to-get-fired sprinkled in.
I would say Leslie was told if you don’t resign we’re going to fire you. First, because they need an excuse to cut the herd down even more at the ACT and second because you can cover a issue and advocate at the same time. She lost her credit ability. Good luck through with the new gig.
Good for you Leslie, best of luck. BTW, I still can’t believe there are people out there who think Medicare and Medicaid are not run by the government!
Leslie Boyd is a class act. I am glad that she is pursuing that which fulfills her. Though I still have serious questions about mismanagement at the Asheville Citizen-Times, there is no doubt in this blogger’s mind that Leslie has done what she believes is right for her.
And so the housecleaning continues. I’ll bet Hammer is happy to have further reduced headcount — maybe he thinks this will make him look good at Gannett HQ. Doubtful given the mess he has created in Asheville.
Leslie Boyd was just another typical run-of-the-mill, typical news reporter. She will do better in her advocacy work, cause there is just not a career path in journalism at the ACT.
The ones who really need to leave are Randy Hammer and Phil Fernandez — both are useless and have bear a lot of responsibility for the staff problems and the decline of the paper.
I’m wondering who will be the last one to turn off the lights on O’Henry St.