About AHCJ: General News

AHCJ names 2014-15 Regional Health Journalism Fellows Date: 07/16/14

AHCJ Regional Health Journalism FellowshipsThe Association of Health Care Journalists has named the 2014-15 class of the Regional Health Journalism Fellowship, an annual fellowship program for reporters and editors across the United States.

The program, which changes regions each year, will focus this year on journalists from the South Central United States, namely Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. The program begins in the next month. The first class of fellows came from the northern Midwest and Plains. The second class of fellows came from the Southeast. And the most recent class of fellows came from the West Coast.

The new fellowship class includes:

  • Stefanie Bryant, KTAL-Shreveport, La.
  • Rebecca Catalanello, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans
  • Michelle Charles, Stillwater (Okla.) News Press
  • Andrew Davis, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock
  • Coshandra Dillard, Tyler (Texas) Morning Telegraph
  • Carolyn Feibel, KUHF-Houston Public Radio
  • Rebecca Jeffrey, KNWA/KFTA-Fayetteville, Ark.
  • Shannon Muchmore, Tulsa (Okla.) World

The aim of the program, supported this year by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is to provide established journalists with the tools needed to improve the depth and amount of coverage focused on localizing critical health issues. Designed by journalists for journalists, the training is spread over a year's time.

The training includes:

  • An intense health reporting boot camp at the Missouri School of Journalism featuring some of the top health journalists in the country

  • Customized briefings at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta

  • An exclusive news webinar

  • Attendance at Health Journalism 2015 in Silicon Valley, the annual conference of AHCJ featuring dozens of workshops, panel sessions, field trips and news briefings

  • Attendance at the 2015 Rural Health Journalism Workshop

  • A professional membership in the Association of Health Care Journalists, with access to all print and Web-based member resources

  • Access to an experienced personal mentor from AHCJ's 1,500-plus membership.

  • A fellows-only electronic discussion list.

  • Continuing resource support after the fellowship.

“This is one of the most important programs we offer,” said AHCJ Executive Director Len Bruzzese. “We had many fine applicants because more and more journalists recognize the need to take charge of their own career development, especially in building their expertise in health coverage. We look forward to working with them and appreciate the support of their newsrooms.”

The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. In just a dozen years, it has grown into the premier organization for training health journalists, boasting more than 1,500 members across the United States and in 25 other nations. Its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. AHCJ, which is based at the Missouri School of Journalism, conducts training through its Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism.

For more than 40 years, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve the health and health care of all Americans. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted solely to the public's health, it is striving to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all Americans to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come.