Fund promotes journalists reporting on health stories

The Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism collaborated with two private health foundations to create a fund supporting journalists reporting on subjects related to children’s health.

Annenberg, the California Endowment and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health created the fund, which offers a $2,000 to $5,000 grant to professional print, online or broadcast journalists.

The projects designed by applicants should shed light on critical health or policy issues that affect children’s health in California, said Michelle Levander, program director of the California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship.

“For example, how kids make their way through the health care system, and [how] kids before wouldn’t have lived as long as they’re living now with the [same] level of severity of an ailment are rich areas for reporting,” Levander said.

Levander said stories about children’s health have changed greatly as health care has changed, specifically the increased impact of chronic diseases on the lives of children.

“What you see now is that the children who are severely ill have chronic diseases, but not necessarily fatal diseases,” Levander said. “They are very costly for the health care system and they are complex to manage.”

Levander said one example is a decrease in schools providing full-time nurses for students.

“One example is that every school used to have its own nurse, [and] that’s one arena that has been cut back greatly,” she said. “You also have kids who might have something like Type 1 diabetes where they need insulin, and so now who is going to administer the insulin? [This debate] made it really tough for the parents and the kids.”

The California Endowment Journalism Fellowship has other programs that offer reporting stipends as well. This, however, is the newest award and is distinct for its focus on children’s health Levander said.

“This is all offered under the offices of the California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship and we are a professional education program at the Annenberg school, and we’re geared toward professional reporters and editors and we offer short training programs with mentoring over many months on story projects all focused around health,” Levander said.

Levander said if students are accepted, they will participate in a fellowship program.

“It’s a new fund that will fund reporting projects around children’s health issues,” Levander said. “[Professional journalists] will be competing to secure both a place in a weeklong national fellowship program and, based on the strength of their reporting proposal, to receive a reporting stipend for the project that they would embark upon.”