1997 Kaiser Media Fellows Selected
For Immediate Release: June 5, 1997Contacts: Tina Hoff — (415) 854-9400 ext. 108
Menlo Park, California — Six journalists have been selected as 1997 Kaiser Media fellows, in the fifth year of an annual fellowship program for health reporters sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The journalists, whose selection was announced today, will start their fellowships projects in September 1997.
1997 Kaiser Media fellows:
Debra Gordon, medical writer, The Virginian-Pilot
Project: Community coalitions–tracking grass root efforts to address child and maternal health problems
Jon Hamilton, freelance health policy writer
Project: An in-depth look at states that have implemented experimental Medicaid managed care programs
Leslie Laurence, syndicated health columnist, and writer, Glamour magazine
Project: The impact of urban hospital closings on local communities
Christopher Ringwald, demographics/mental health reporter, The (Albany) Times Union
Project: The challenges and debate facing alcoholism and addiction treatment programs–what works, why, and how to measure results
Joanne Silberner, health policy correspondent, National Public Radio
Project: How public health research becomes health policy–from academia to the streets
Tammie Smith, health reporter, The Tennessean
Project: How the major black colleges in the U.S. are faring in a changing health care environment–focused on Howard, Meharry, Morehouse, and Drew
The Kaiser Media Fellowships Program provides health journalists with a highly flexible range of opportunities to pursue in-depth projects related to health policy, healthcare financing and public health issues. There is no obligation to be based at an academic institution, and no bar on fellows continuing to report for publication or TV/radio production during their fellowship.
The Program gives fellows time and travel opportunities to research specific topics, to broaden their perspectives, and deepen understanding of health policy, health financing and public health issues. The purpose is to help journalists improve the quality of the work they do–to enhance their ability to explain the complex ethical, economic, medical and political aspects involved in their reporting on health issues.
In addition to working on their individual projects, fellows meet as a group five times during the year and participate in a series of program seminars and site visits, in part designed by the fellows. These vary widely in focus, location and in the range of participants. In January 1997, the current fellows met for a three-day program on computer-assisted health reporting at the Poynter Institute, followed by a four-day sitevisit to Miami with briefings on various immigration and public health issues. The next fellowship site visit in August 1997 to Portland, Oregon, will focus on longterm care and end-of life issues.
Fellows are awarded a basic stipend of $45,000 for a twelve-month period, plus travel expenses. In 1998, six fellowships will again be awarded to print, television, and radio health reporters, commentators, editors and producers. Applications for 1998 will be available shortly, for submission by March 1998. For further information, or to apply for the 1998 awards, contact Penny Duckham, executive director of the fellowships program, at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2400 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (Tel: 415-854-9400; fax: 415-854-4800; e-mail: pduckham@kff.org).
The Kaiser Family Foundation is an independent health care foundation and is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.
Kaiser Media Fellows
Fellows are selected by a national advisory committee:
Hale Champion (chair)
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Paul Delaney
Editorial Page Editor, Our World News
Anne Gudenkauf
Senior Editor, Science Desk, National Public Radio
Timothy Johnson, M.D.
Eileen Shanahan
Washington Correspondent, New America News Service
1996 Media Fellows
Lisa Aliferis, producer, KPIX-TV (San Francisco)
Project: Death and dying–focus includes hospice care, physician assisted suicide, and differences in cultural perspectives
Susan FitzGerald, medical writer, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Project: Children’s health issues: growing up in the inner-city
Samuel Orozco, news/satellite director, Radio Bilingue
Project: Mental health issues facing Latino immigrants in the U.S.
Eugene Richards, photo-journalist and author
Project: The consequences of child abuse
Joseph P. Shapiro, senior editor, U.S. News & World Report
Project: Long-term care–creating a system of care that is safe, appropriate, affordable, and maximizes independence
Mark Taylor, health reporter, Post-Tribune (Gary, Indiana)
Project: The impact of state and federal legislation on healthcare for disadvantaged populations
1995 Media Fellows
Chris Adams, reporter, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Project: The impact of the for-profit hospital chains in the changing medical marketplace.
Leon Dash, reporter, The Washington Post
Project: Six generations of underclass life in a family.
Jonathan Freedman, author, columnist; regular contributor, Los Angeles Times Commentary Page
Project/s: Comprehensive child-development programs: a television documentary profiling families who overcome poverty; a book on prostate cancer
Judith Graham, business writer, The Denver Post
Project: The restructuring of the health care industry
Lani Luciano, staff writer, Money magazine
Project: Medical quality measures–how real, how useful, how welcome?
Patricia Neighmond, health policy correspondent, National Public Radio
Project: Managed care–its implications for patients and their doctors
1994 Media Fellows
Jeanne Blake, documentary producer and author
Project: Sexuality and the threat of HIV to young people
Janet Firshein, Editor, Medicine & Health
Project: Training more primary care doctors–the challenge facing the nation’s medical schools and academic health centers
Carol Gentry, medical writer, St. Petersburg Times
Project: Managed care and HMOs–the impact on the care doctors provide and patients receive
Angela Mitchell, freelance writer and author
Project: African-Americans and the AIDS epidemic
Rita Rubin, associate editor, U.S. News & World Report
Project: An examination of the appropriateness of care given to women
Steve Sternberg, freelance health policy writer
Project: The implications–medical, legal and societal–of emerging infectious diseases
1993 Media Fellows
Lisa Belkin, healthcare reporter, The New York Times
Project: Family practice in inner-cities–examining innovative strategies for recruiting and retaining family doctors in U.S. inner-cities
Mary Flannery, health/medical reporter, The Philadelphia Daily News
Project: The provision of day treatment programs for adults with mental illness–primarily focused on the clubhouse model at Fountain House in New York, and its effectiveness as a treatment option for other U.S. cities
Julie Kosterlitz, Contributing Editor, The National Journal
Project: The Clinton health reform plan–an in-depth analysis of the issues, the legislation, the political process, the results
Linda Roach Monroe, health and medicine reporter, The Miami Herald
Project: Cultural barriers to medical care in the U.S., and the implications for medical providers and others (including the media), starting with Hispanic communities
Rebecca Perl, science desk, National Public Radio
Project: Smoking and health–advertising, marketing and lobbying activities of the U.S. tobacco industry, nationally and internationally, and their impact and future implications for specific populations and target groups
Stuart Schear, health/science reporter, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour
Project: Issues in health reform beyond the legislative process: the implications of moving toward managed care and competition for patients, practitioners, administrators, and providers