Truth Be Told

The recent scandal involving CBS News' reporting of President Bush's National Guard records has many people, including journalists, wondering about the accuracy of the news we read and hear.It's especially troubling to me when I see the pattern of sloppy reporting repeated by news outlets such as The New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today. The public's faith in accurate, unbiased coverage is further eroded by what many see as the "slanted" coverage provided by all-news TV networks such as CNN and Fox News.

Insurance professionals repeatedly ask me about how we develop article ideas for this magazine, and I tell them a majority of our content depends on the willingness of insurance executives to be open and honest about their experiences. I also tell them that my gut feeling is that true to their nature of being risk adverse, insurance executives aren't inclined to tell us the bad news along with the good.

Writers who aspire to provide balanced and fair reporting rely on their sources to tell them the whole story. Our editorial purpose isn't to expose bad decisions or organizations or products, or glorify IT products and services. Our job is to explain how insurance companies are implementing technology to support their business strategies and goals, and hopefully provide useful information for insurance executives.

No one wants to admit to failure, but the fact is that lessons learned from making mistakes are crucial bits of information that should be shared to improve the industry. I want to take this opportunity to assure our readers that what we present to you every month is not a sugar-coated account of what's really happening in the insurance world, nor is it a complete picture, warts and all. It is what our sources are willing to tell us. It's my hope that insurance executives will become more comfortable discussing with us the positive and negative aspects of their IT experiences so that everyone can benefit from their candor.

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