By Betsy Model, President
Journalists from across the world can apply for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health in Journalism, which provides stipends to journalists to report on topics related to mental health or mental illnesses.
Journalists must have at least three years experience in any news medium. Topics are flexible; past fellows have studied topics including demographic analysis of mental health maladies and services affiliated with the treatment of mental health conditions.
Fellows are provided flexibility in scheduling their project work throughout the year. They make two expense-paid visits to The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, in the U.S. The fellowship year will begin in September 2011.
Every year, six U.S. fellows are awarded stipends of $10,000 each. Stipends cover expenses during the fellowship project, including travel, materials, and other incidental expenses. Each fellow is matched with a Journalism Fellowship Advisory Board member who will serve as a mentor, provide technical assistance and information about complex mental health issues, and share professional contacts within their field of expertise. All fellows are required to contact their mentor three times within the first three months of the fellowship year. In addition, fellows interact with each other, with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and with members of the Carter Center Mental Health Task Force. The fellowship encourages total journalistic independence and freedom and only requires that the fellows report accurately.
Fellows enjoy a great deal of flexibility in scheduling their project work throughout the year. They make two expense-paid visits to The Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga. The first trip occurs in September, at the beginning of the fellowship year, when fellows meet with their advisers, task force members, and other fellows to discuss their project plans. The second visit comes in September, at the end of the fellowship year, when fellows present their completed projects and discuss challenges and successes in mental health reporting. Each visit lasts three days. Projects do not require fellows to leave their jobs.
For information on how to apply, click here. For information on how to apply, click here.