Winter 2000 Issue
Public Health Like It’s Never Been Seen Before
Knight Journalism Fellowship at CDC to help journalists gain perspective
Six mid-career journalists in science and health/medicine have the opportunity to experience public health with CDC scientists and researchers through a new CDC Foundation journalism program.
With a $640,000 grant from the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the CDC Foundation created the Knight Journalism Fellowships at CDC, a four month program beginning July 2000 at CDC. The Fellowships are open to any journalist who has worked at least five years for newspapers, magazines, radio, television or the Internet.
During their fellowships, Knight fellows will learn first-hand about public health, from research to real-life application and intervention. They will receive specialized training in epidemiology, biostatistics and population-based approaches to health with members of the 2000 class of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), CDC’s “disease detectives.”
In addition, Knight fellows will have an opportunity to investigate an outbreak with EIS officers and conduct research on topics of their choice with CDC scientists. They also will participate in seminars with noted speakers on public health issues such as bioterrorism, antibiotic resistance, violence prevention and HIV/AIDS, as well as work in the field at a health department in metropolitan Atlanta.
The journalism fellowships are designed to help journalists deepen their understanding of public health, according to program planners.
“When science reporters are working their regular jobs, they rarely have time to learn more than the minimum needed to write the story of the moment,” says John W. Ward, editor-in-chief of CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) who will coordinate the Knight fellowship program at CDC. “As a result, they may miss some of the background, the context and the process of science that are needed to give perspective. These fellowships will provide those missing links. I think it will make a huge difference in the quality of their work.”
An advisory committee of prominent individuals in public health, communication and academia is helping to develop the program. Members of the committee are: Lawrence K. Altman, medical correspondent and a former EIS officer, The New York Times; Jay Bookman, associate editorial page editor, The Atlanta Constitution; Dolores (Dolly) Katz, regional epidemiologist, Florida Department of Health, and a former journalist and EIS officer; Carol Kinstle, director of health coverage, CNN Medical Unit; Thomas R. Linden, Glaxo Wellcome Distinguished Professor of Medical Journalism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; George Strait, vice president of content for drspock.com and former medical correspondent, ABC News; and Sanford Ungar, director, Voice of America.