According to the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship website, informed journalists can have a significant impact upon public understanding of mental health issues as they shape debate and trends with the words and pictures they convey. They influence their peers and stimulate discussion among the general public, and an informed public can reduce stigma and discrimination. Mental illnesses constitute some of the most serious, under-recognised, and under-reported health problems in the United States and around the world. Designed to help reduce stigma and discrimination, The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism provide stipends to journalists to study topics related to mental health or mental illnesses.

The Fellowships are designed to:

• Increase accurate reporting on mental health issues and decrease incorrect, stereotypical information;
• Help journalists produce high-quality work that reflects an understanding of mental health issues through exposure to well-established resources in the field; and,
• Develop a cadre of better-informed print and electronic journalists who will more accurately report information through newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film, and the internet, and influence their peers to do the same.

The contents of the application packet are outlined on The Carter Center website linked below.

Click here for more information and the online profile of personal and professional information in MS Word format.

Eligibility includes the following:

• Have at least three years of experience in print or electronic journalism (writing, reporting, editing, producing, filmmaking)
• Complete the online profile of personal and professional information available on the Carter Center website. Email the profile to ccmhp@emory.edu
• Submit a complete application packet, including how the applicant learned about the fellowships
• Attend orientation and presentation meetings in September, at the beginning and end of the fellowship year

Click here for a list of previous winners.

Carter Center website on November 24 2009.