Media Objectivity Affecting Healthcare Reform

Emily Mueting

Which do you prefer, the Affordable Health Care Act or Obamacare? This is a trick question because they are the same thing. Many people are aware that these two terms are both used to refer to the health care reform bill going through Congress right now, but there are still just as many people who are not aware that these terms are used interchangeably.

Jimmy Kimmel, popular late night talk show host, and USA Today have both proved that many people were not aware that Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act are the same thing. Jimmy Kimmel set up a man on the street interview to prove that many of the people around the nation were not aware of what Congress was fighting about -- a video that has since went viral. While I am sure this isn’t a perfect representation of what all or most Americans think about the health care reform bill, it shows that there are people out there who do not know the difference in the terms Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act.

Republicans who were opposed to the health care reform bill commonly used the term Obamacare when speaking about the bill. This lead to negative feelings about the bill, especially with other Republicans.

Democrats have started to use the name of the bill, the Affordable Care Act, instead of the nickname Obamacare because of the negativity that is carried with the phrase now. However, the phrase Affordable Care Act is naturally a positive phrase, giving a positive message, and in return, causing more people to approve of the bill.

The main problem with this tie up of names and the connotations they carry is due to the way the media have presented the bill and the congressmen fighting on either side. If the news constantly shows Republicans calling the bill Obamacare while saying bad things about it, the negative connotation of the word is bound to appear. The same occurs with the Affordable Health Care Act when it is shown in a positive light.

The media are told to be objective, but how is that possible when the words you choose to say carry subjectivity in them? That is not an easy question, and this is why many journalists have problems with objectivity.

The Huffington Post wrote very provoking blog about this very issue in 2009, which can be applied today. While keeping in mind that The Huffington Post is said to be liberal, I agree with them when they say objectivity is lacking; I do not think the media should simply be “dealing with it."

To help solve this issue, I say use neither Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act when discussing the bill. Both are subjective and do not give the reader the information they need. News media could easily refer to all instances as the health care reform bill in any story. They can report stories that show both sides. To use language that is avoidable when it is full of bias is not good journalism. An attempt to be objective is all you can ask for, but that attempt should include the phrase healthcare reform bill before any use of Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act.