When it comes to the debate around health care, you’ve heard the same voices of pundits and politicians repeated on the morning and evening news.  You’ve seen a small group dominate the airwaves by shouting and spreading lies at town hall events.  You’ve even seen guns at presidential events enter the fray. But have you seen your personal health care story told?  Or that of your friends, families, co-workers, or neighbors? 

Your story is getting lost in the shouting and political posturing.  But it’s these stories that can make the difference in how health care is covered in the national media and how politicians will vote. We’re asking you to join us in this exciting citizen journalism project to help uncover the the health care stories of real people, including your own.

At MyRapidReport.com, it’s easy to become a citizen journalist.  We’ve broken this down into three simple options.  You can do one or all!

1) Videotape the proceedings of a health care town hall – try to interview speakers or other attendees.

2) Conduct interviews around your community and gather personal healthcare stories. We’ve even provided some helpful starting questions for you.

3) Tell your own personal healthcare story.  (Ideas on how to structure your personal story are here.

Upload your captured video by going to MyRapidReport.com and click UPLOAD VIDEO. It’s just that simple.

So what will happen with your stories?  Like YouTube, they will be open for the public to view. But you will also have a captured audience of reporters, editors, organizers and more who will be combing over these stories during the next month.  Your videos will help identify the needs and hopes of everyday citizens around the future of our healthcare as they continue to monitor, report and organize around this critical issue.

 For guidelines on how to capture a successful video story, click here.

If you’re passionate about shaping the future of your health care – and American’s health care – participate in this critical storytelling project.

By the way, if you happen to live in New York City, GRITtv has generously offered their studio space for you to come in and tape your own personal story starting on Sep. 11 and every Friday afterward.  Email [email protected] to get more information and reserve your time to tell your healthcare story!

Feel free to spread the word about this opportunity to your family, friends, neighbors, and local community groups.  If you’re on Twitter, you can use the #mrrhealth

And one last note, starting on September 1, Lindsay Beyerstein, The Media Consortium’s own health care blogger, will start doing daily posts on the most current debates and round-up of reporting around health care for the next month. You can check out the Daily Pulse on this site every day or at http://www.themediaconsortium.org/consortium-report/]