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Global: Annual Rosalynn Carter Fellowships awarded

Journalists recognised for work in mental health field

The Carter Center Mental Health Program has named eight recipients of its eleventh annual Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, including six from the United States and two from southern Africa. Two Romanian journalists will be named at a later date. Each fellow will receive a stipend to study and report on a particular mental health issue for one year.

"Informed journalists can have a significant impact on public understanding of mental health issues, as they shape debate and trends with the words and pictures they convey," former US First Lady Rosalynn Carter said. "They influence their peers and stimulate discussion among the general public, and an informed public can reduce stigma and discrimination."

The 2007–2008 Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism recipients are:

Ilse Pauw, senior writer/editor, Health24.com, Cape Town, South Africa. Topic: Write a series of seven feature articles highlighting individuals living with a mental illness,

Andrea Petersen, news editor, The Wall Street Journal, Brooklyn, NY, USA. Topic: Write a series of articles and a book on the diagnoses, causes, and treatment of anxiety disorders.

Molly Knight Raskin, freelance journalist, Washington, DC, USA. Topic: Write a series of feature–length articles on borderline personality disorder to give a general understanding of the illness and highlight promising breakthroughs in treatment, with the overall goal to reduce the stigma surrounding it.

Kevin Roy, news anchor/reporter, WLS–TV, ABC7 Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. Topic: Produce a series of stories about suicide prevention, including what is being done to bring down suicide rates in the State of Illinois.

Marc Shaffer, documentary filmmaker, Oakland, CA, USA. Topic: Produce a 60–90 minute television documentary on the criminalisation of people with mental illnesses to explore the reasons those with severe mental illnesses are incarcerated and solutions to reverse this destructive trend.

Chandra Thomas, staff writer, Atlanta Magazine, GA, USA. Topic: Explore the stigma surrounding mental illnesses in the African–American community.

Gregory Warner, freelance journalist, New York, NY, USA. Topic: Produce an hour–long radio episode about trauma treatment in the US and abroad.

Pieter van Zyl, senior writer, Media 24, Cape Town, South Africa. Topic: Explore and portray the influence of crime on South Africa's children, therapists, single parents, and others, as well as provide journalists with guidelines on how to interview victims of crime.

Infolink: Since the Center's journalism fellowship programme began, more than 100 newspaper and magazine articles have been written, five books published, four TV documentaries produced, and hundreds of minutes of radio time aired. Fellows' projects have received awards from Mental Health America, the American Psychological Association, Amnesty International, and the Association of Healthcare Journalists, as well as Emmy Award nominations and two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism.

The Carter Center in Atlanta celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2007. As a not–for–profit, non–governmental organisation, The Carter Center works in more than 65 countries to help resolve conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers in developing nations to increase crop production. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former US President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. For further information about The Carter Centre visit website at: www.cartercenter.org.

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