Nine Journalists Named as 2007 Kaiser Media Fellows

Program Provides Journalists Flexibility to Pursue In-depth Reporting Projects on Health Policy Issues

Menlo Park, CA – The Kaiser Family Foundation today announced the nine journalists who will participate in the prestigious Kaiser Media Fellowships in Health program. The Kaiser Media Fellowship in Health Program, established in 1993, seeks to expand journalists’ understanding of increasingly complex health policy issues through briefings, site visits and undertaking an in-depth reporting project.

The 2007 Kaiser Media Fellows will begin their fellowships from June 2007 onwards and will undertake the following projects:

Dominic Chavez, photographer, and John Donnelly, reporter, Washington bureau, The Boston Globe
Examine the effectiveness of public and private U.S. funding and programs to help AIDS orphans in Africa

Sheri Fink, M.D., freelance reporter, New York City
Medical care in times of crisis and disaster, focused on New Orleans, post-Katrina.

Deborah Franklin, acting deputy science/health editor, National Public Radio, Washington, D.C.
Genetic testing and its implications for individuals and their health insurance coverage

Felice J. Freyer, medical writer, The Providence Journal, Rhode Island
The causes and costs of premature births

Tom Jennings, documentary producer, New York City
Immigrant health issues, migrant workers, and health policies related to immigration

Joshua Norman, health reporter, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Mississippi
Mental health and trauma recovery in the Gulf region

Czerne M. Reid, health and science reporter, The State, Columbia, South Carolina
Federal and state funding for HIV/AIDS treatment and care, and the economic and social impact of the disease in South Carolina

T.R. Reid, Rocky Mountain bureau chief, The Washington Post
A comparative analysis of other countries’ health care financing and delivery systems and the lessons for the U.S.

“As news organizations grapple with shrinking budgets, we hope that our Fellowship program will be increasingly helpful by providing journalists with hands on experience with health policy issues through site visits, briefings, and other opportunities to examine health policy issues in-depth,” said Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The program provides journalists with flexibility to pursue in-depth research projects combined with newsroom reporting while participating in group site visits and briefings on a variety of health policy issues. Fellows participate in up to five seminars with health policy experts and leaders, and site visits. In March 2007, the Fellows spent a week in New Orleans and Gulfport/Biloxi with briefings and site visits focused on the health care needs in the Gulf region, and on efforts to rebuild the post-Katrina health care system. Fellows attend an annual intensive three-day program on computer-assisted reporting focused on health-related databases at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, FL.

The fellowships projects can last as long as nine months or as short as a few months, but all fellows participate in site visits and seminars throughout the year. Stipends are awarded based on the length of the fellowship, up to $50,000 for a nine-month period. The program also covers expenses, such as travel and computer equipment, based on the needs of the project.

Fellows are selected by a national advisory committee, which reviews fellowship applications and interviews finalists. The Kaiser Media Fellowship Program National Advisory Committee members are:

• Hale Champion, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
• Paul Delaney, director, Initiative on Racial Mythology, Washington, D.C.
• Timothy Johnson, M.D., medical editor, ABC News
• Bill Kovach, chairman, Committee of Concerned Journalists
• Joanne Silberner, health policy correspondent, National Public Radio

Ninety Kaiser Fellows have been selected since Kaiser began its journalism program in 1993. The journalists have represented some of the leading print, radio and television news organizations in the nation. For a complete list of Kaiser Fellows and other program details visit http://www.kff.org/mediafellows/fellowshipsinhealth.cfm.

The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation dedicated to providing information and analysis on health care issues to policymakers, the media, the health care community and the general public. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.

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