At Randy Griffith’s recent retirement party, his mother recalled the time when her son, then a teenager, went boating on the Allegheny River with a friend.
The two boys missed the spot where they planned to get out of the river, and their journey continued deep into the Western Pennsylvania evening — in the days before a handy cellphone might be used to alert concerned parents.
As his friend grew more anxious about how late it was getting and how far from home they had traveled, Randy calmly and repeatedly said they would find a place to get ashore “just around the next bend,” his mom, Betty Griffith, said.
After five decades in the news business, Randy’s career went around the next bend recently as he sailed into retirement. He had covered health care, transportation and a municipal government for more than 25 years at The Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after beginning at his hometown newspaper — The Derrick in Oil City, Pennsylvania.
Most journalists get into the field in the hopes of making a difference in their community or the world — through content that educates readers about how they can be smarter, wealthier or safer — or by fulfilling the “watchdog” role in respect to government.
Some journalists even aspire to produce stories that save lives by exposing health concerns and reporting on risks and sharing potential safety measures. Many have moments when that dream is realized.
Especially on his health care beat, Randy Griffith literally wrote stories that saved lives — even as he waged his own battle against cancer in recent years.
It is a rare newsroom these days with a reporter who specializes in health care, who covers hospitals and medical topics as a “beat.”
Randy has done so at an award-winning level.
When asked by colleague David Hurst why he got into the news business all those years ago, Randy said: “I just wanted to tell stories — people’s stories.”
He added: “Everybody has a story, even though they don’t always know it.”
Randy’s story has followed as many twists and turns as that river he navigated as a teen — from doctor’s son to sports photographer, then to news reporter and eventually to covering health care.
His sense of style — colorful-themed ties and Hawaiian shirts — and unique “shorthand” note-taking are legendary.
And so are his work ethic, his dedication and his attention to detail.
Over the years, Randy’s reporting has fueled special reports on critical subjects such as heart disease and stroke, dementia, ovarian cancer, obesity, mental health, hyperthermia, tobacco risks, diabetes and many more — including through his long-running series, “Health Matters.”
His reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic was unmatched as he informed his audience about the virus, statistical trends, protective measures, vaccines and treatment options.
When The Tribune-Democrat first began producing content dedicated to elevating breast-cancer awareness in 2008, Randy took the lead and spearheaded coverage that has won numerous state, company and health industry awards for public service journalism.
The only year he missed having a byline in the Oct. 1 report was in 2022 — when he was fighting cancer himself. He rebounded in 2023 to again lead the Tribune’s coverage of the critical facets of that disease — genetic risks and screening, early detection, the latest in treatment, research and advocacy.
Randy’s health care content has also appeared on the pages of the Times-News — most notably in the newspaper’s two breast cancer awareness sections each October.
Early on, Randy developed a glossary of terms that remains valid today — updated annually.
His interviews with area doctors, scientists, nurses, hospital administrators and patients helped readers better understand breast cancer, take precautions and have the best chance at beating the disease — which more and more people are now doing.
At Randy’s retirement party, Johnstown-area breast surgeon Dr. Patti Stefanick said the Griffith-led coverage of the disease helped patients see that “they aren’t alone” — that they can face treatment and recover.
She told Hurst: “Before Randy’s stories, nobody talked about breast cancer. Now, it’s a discussion the entire month of October.”
And, Stefanick said, Griffith’s relentless reporting on cancer has literally saved lives — with more people getting mammograms and screenings, which means earlier detection and better odds for survival.
Randy even became the heath reporter who educated himself.
He had learned so much about cancer through the years that when his X-rays were posted to his digital health tracker site, he understood the serious diagnosis even before getting that call from his doctor in late 2021.
He has been through that scary diagnosis, intensive treatment and difficult periods of recovery.
In October 2023, Randy wrote: “My years of researching and writing breast cancer stories helped me understand what was going on in my own cancer journey.”
That realization, that personal experience, personifies the impact of his lifetime in community journalism — where the mission is helping others, and sometimes even yourself, get through the challenges life will bring.
Much like Betty Griffith’s son navigated that river as a teen — with the assurance and the informed understanding that a safe haven would be there just around the next bend.