About Pia Christensen
Pia Christensen (@AHCJ_Pia) is the managing editor/online services for AHCJ. She manages the content and development of healthjournalism.org, coordinates social media efforts of AHCJ and assists with the editing and production of association guides, programs and newsletters.
Health journalists have been busy, with a number of job changes, awards and new books out. Here’s the latest news about AHCJ members:
MILESTONES
Conscious Living TV recently launched its latest media platform: taxi screens in New York City, Chicago, Boston and Seattle. Bianca Alexander is a correspondent/executive producer of the news show about the eco-movement.
Joe Carlson (@MHJCarlson) has a new beat covering legal affairs for Modern Healthcare magazine. He received the print journalism award this summer for best story in trade-circulation category from the National Institute for Health Care Management Research and Educational Foundation for his 2010 story, “Bad for Business.”
Bob Mitchell has been named editor at CMIO Magazine, based in Providence, R.I. The online and print publication reaches chief medical information officers.
The Oakland Tribune ran Beatrice Motamedi‘s three-part series on inner-city teens and stress, called “The Long Arm of Childhood,” on the front page for three days in May and June. The series was a project of the California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships at USC/Annenberg.
Following the terrorist attacks in 2011, PJ Noonan found families who had babies born on Sept. 11, 2001, and told the stories of six of them in USA Weekend. For the 10th anniversary, Noonan located the six children and their parents for a feature in the Sept. 11, 2011, issue of USA Weekend.
Marie Powers has joined BioWorld Today as a staff writer. With 15 years on the health care beat, Powers will cover breaking news on public and private companies for the biotechnology industry’s daily newspaper and contribute to affiliated reports.
Jennifer Ringler has started the master of science in health communication program at Boston University. She is the volunteer associate director, grants and media relations, for the International Cancer Advocacy Network.
HealthNewsReview.org publisher Gary Schwitzer, who is a member of the FDA’s Risk Communication Advisory Committee, contributed a chapter on health care journalism to the FDA’s new “Communicating Risks and Benefits: An Evidence-Based User’s Guide.” Australian journalist Melissa Sweet has written a review of the guide.
AWARDS
Health columnist LJ Anderson won second place for her Palo Alto Daily News’ feature columns in the 2011 Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards, sponsored by the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club.
WebMD’s Daniel J. DeNoon, senior medical writer, Laura J. Martin, M.D., and Sean Swint, executive editor, won a 2010 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Online Deadline Reporting (Affiliated) for “Gene Test, Preventive Surgery Save Women’s Lives.”
Steven Kussin, M.D., has opened a community-based, non-academic Shared Decision Center. His book, “Doctor, Your Patient Will See You Now” was published on Aug. 28.
Maryn McKenna, an independent journalist and an AHCJ board member, won a 2011 Science in Society Journalism Award, sponsored by the National Association of Science Writers, for her book “Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA” (Free Press).
Jennifer Meckles, who recently began a job at WBIR-Knoxville, Tenn., as a multimedia journalist, won a Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional journalists in the Television News General Reporting category for “New Signs for Boomer Eyes,” a piece about the government changing road sign policies due to the failing eyesight of the Baby Boomer generation. She was a finalist in the Television News In-Depth Reporting category for “Target 8: Fulton Hospital,” an investigation into a maximum security Missouri prison and mental rehabilitation center.
HealthSource and Florida Doctor – North magazines, published by Beson4 Media Group, were honored by the Florida Magazine Association. HealthSource received a Charlie Award for Writing Excellence in Best Service Coverage for its November 2010 diabetes issue. Florida Doctor – North received a Bronze Award for General Excellence in Best Overall Magazine/Trade/Technical for its August 2010, January 2011 and February 2011 issues. Vanessa Wells is the editor at Beson4 Media Group.
BOOKS PUBLISHED
William “Lee” Dubois‘ book, “Diabetes Warrior: Be your own knight in shining armor. How to stay healthy and happy with diabetes,” has been published.
John Hacker, managing editor at The Carthage (Mo.) Press, and Randy Turner have written “5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado.” It is Hacker’s story about covering the tornado, along with stories from other survivors and obituaries for the 160 people who died.
Harriet Hodgson, B.S., M.A., an independent journalist based in Rochester, Minn., has just had her 29th and 30th books published. “Happy Again! Your New and Meaningful Life After Loss” was published by Centering Corporation in Omaha. “Real Meals on 18 Wheels: A Guide for Healthy Living on the Highway,” is a nutrition book for truckers written with Kathryn Clements, R.D. The seed money for the project came from a major trucking company and the pair self-published it using CreateSpace.
Dave Parks, a freelance journalist in Birmingham, Ala., has just authored a book published through Apress, “Health Care Reform Simplified.” It describes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, translating the law’s complex language into terms that are easy to understand. Parks blogs about health care reform.
“Launching Your Dietetics Career” (American Dietetic Association, 2011) is the sixth book written by D. Milton Stokes, M.P.H., R.D., C.D.N. It explains the pathway to becoming a registered dietitian and features more than a dozen interviews with professionals in the field. Stokes is working toward a doctorate degree in health communication from the University of Connecticut.
