Top of the Morning: Liza Gross Edition

Here we check in with prominent health journalists and experts to see what sites, newsletters and social media feeds they turn to first every morning. This week, we caught up with 2015 California Data Fellow Liza Gross, freelance health journalist and senior editor of PLOS Biology. Here are her top morning reads.

I cover a wide range of topics, from environmental and public health to ecology and conservation, so my morning reads are somewhat eclectic and depend on what I’m covering. Here’s a sample of what I might read on any given day:

Environmental Health News Digest, which features a roundup of environmental health news from around the world, including op-eds from scientists and journalists on topical issues.

AHCJ Daily Update:You have to be a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists to subscribe, which I recommend not just for the daily updates covering hot topics from infectious diseases to policy, but also for the reporting tip sheets, databases and guides for using data in your stories. And like the USC Center for Health Journalism, AHCJ offers fellowships and grants that can enhance and support your reporting.

I also subscribe to several news sites, including AgInsider, produced by the Food & Reporting Network, ProPublica, to keep up with their latest investigations, and Muck Rack Daily, which offers “a snapshot of what journalists around the world are reading, thinking and commenting on right now.”

I also check out Psych Central News, regularly to keep up on the latest research on mental health and access to online mental health resources, and get alerts about embargoed studies from several journals and organizations (including JAMA, Pediatrics, and the American Heart Association), as well as Newswise, which is a free service for journalists that offers access to embargoed papers in diverse fields, from climate change science to specific medical fields.

Finally, I tend to check Health News Review, a health journalism watchdog that calls out bad reporting and offers tips and resources for writing and reporting about health and medicine. I particularly like its list of independent experts, who don't have financial ties to drug or medical device manufacturers that could subtly or not so subtly affect their opinions on particular studies, products or regulations.