Special Projects Fund

Project Title

New York State Health Journalism Fellowships 2012

Grant Amount

$30,000

Priority Area

Special Projects Fund

Date Awarded

December 6, 2011

Region

Outside New York State

Status

Closed

Website

http://www.healthjournalism.org/center-jump.php

As the nation’s media outlets face shrinking budgets and shoestring staffing, resources for journalists’ continuing education and professional development are limited.

Increasingly, reporters are assigned to multiple beats rather than to one specific issue area, so their knowledge of any one area may be relatively superficial. The Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, the supporting 501(c)(3) organization for the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ), aims to fill that knowledge gap through an annual four-day national conference that attracts approximately 500 journalists and health care luminaries and covers a wide range of issues, both content-focused (e.g., covering various aspects of the Federal health reform law, health care disparities, issues in aging and long-term care) and skills-focused (e.g., understanding how to read medical studies or interpret hospital quality data).

This project provided fellowships to 15-20 journalists in New York State to cover registration, lodging, and a travel stipend for AHCJ’s 2012 national conference, as well as a one-year AHCJ membership. Funds also supported AHCJ staff time for fellowship promotion and coordination, and marketing, design, and administrative expenses.