We’re a health news service exploring the impacts of place, policy and economics on Americans’ health.
Our award-winning reporting centers personal stories as we expose injustices, explain complex policy issues and highlight solutions to long-standing health inequities.
Focus areas include: mental health and addiction, rural health, criminal justice, health inequities caused by barriers to care for marginalized communities.
We are a collaboration of journalists based at:
- WFYI (Indianapolis, Indiana) — Side Effects headquarters
- Iowa Public Radio (Des Moines, Iowa)
- KBIA (Columbia, Missouri)
- WFPL (Louisville, Kentucky)
- WSIU (Carbondale, Illinois)
In addition, Side Effects works collaboratively with other Midwest NPR stations and shares a WFYI-based healthy equity reporter with the Indianapolis Recorder newspaper. We also partner with Tradeoffs — a podcast exploring our confusing, costly and often counterintuitive health care system.
Our stories reach national audiences through reporting partnerships with NPR, Kaiser Health News, Science Friday and Tradeoffs.
