Center for Health Journalism

11/14/2025

As our Health and Climate Change Reporting Fellows embark on their investigative projects, Michael Kodas, senior editor of Inside Climate News and author of "Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame," had this advice.

11/13/2025

The Center for Health Journalism and the Center for Climate Journalism and Communication are proud to announce our inaugural Health and Climate Change Reporting Fellows. Congratulations to: Ethan Bakuli, Brett Chase, Katherine Davis-Young, Katharine Gammon, Mike Kropf, Katie Myers, Yereth Rosen, Alexandra Villarreal and Jess Zhang. They will be joining us on campus starting today.

These fellows will receive mentorship, intensive training and reporting funds to produce ambitious investigative and explanatory news projects. Stories they will report in partnership with us over the next five months will investigate the lasting health aftereffects of wildfires, the ways a warming planet can fuel disease threats, the community impacts of rising sea levels, the mental health and cultural impacts of climate displacement, the long-term health effects of repeated flooding, and efforts to protect people from extreme heat in their home and work environments.
Read the press release at bit.ly/USCHealthandClimateChangeFellows and follow this week and in the months to come for updates and stories throughout the year.

11/04/2025

USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism is hiring a Collaborative News Editor!
Full job description: bit.ly/CHJCollaborativeEditor

We are seeking to hire a veteran editor to lead our award-winning nonprofit journalism collaborative that works with ethnic media news outlets across California on stories of health and health equity. The Collaborative News Editor will create educational programming, serve as project editor, mentor reporters at different skills levels and lead a learning and reporting effort that brings together five to seven outlets in California.

As project manager, you’ll nurture esprit de corps and build a virtual newsroom among the reporters, newsroom leaders and their editorial colleagues, brainstorming on story ideas, editing copy and developing a learning curriculum with the program design and priorities established in collaboration with participating newsrooms. You will also be expected to track outcomes and contribute to reports on our progress.

This is a 40 hour per week, grant-funded, , staff position based in Los Angeles, with two days a week in-office.

Learn more about applying for Collaborative Editor at USC

10/31/2025

Nov 10, 2025 | 10–11 a.m. PST | Free

Register: bit.ly/MedicalDebtReg

Medical debt is pummeling American families — even those with insurance.

Soaring premiums, high deductibles and rising medical prices are pushing families deeper into the red. The crisis is poised to grow worse if Congress does not extend the premium subsidies that have made Affordable Care Act plans far more affordable for some 24 million Americans. Meanwhile, hospitals are taking patients to court and garnishing wages for unpaid bills.

In this webinar, reporters Rae Ellen Bichell of KFF Health News and Jessica Glenza from The Guardian — who have done pioneering investigative work on America’s medical debt crisis — will share strategies, insights and story ideas that journalists can apply in any community to help journalists cover this growing issue for their audiences.

This webinar is free and made possible The Commonwealth Fund and The California Endowment.

Medical debt poses a punishing burden for a growing share of American families. In this webinar, we’ll hear strategies and tips for covering this important story from two reporters who have done pioneering investigative reporting on America’s current medical debt crisis.

10/27/2025

📢 Announcing our 2026 California Health Equity Fellowship!

⏰ Deadline: January 14, 2026 | 🗓️ In-person training: March 16–19, 2026 | 💸 Grants: $2,000–$10,000

Our California Fellowship is designed to support reporters in the Golden State pursuing ambitious, enterprising projects on overlooked health and health equity issues. The program places strong emphasis on the ways in which environmental and community conditions can influence how long and how well we live.

Get in-person intensive training from nationally renowned health and social welfare experts, policy analysts, community health leaders, and top journalists in the field at USC Annenberg, plus five months of professional mentorship—with the option to apply for engaged journalism mentorship ($1,000–$2,000) to deepen community impact.

✅ Reporting themes include health inequities, food and economic instability, housing insecurity, and how well our health and social welfare systems serve communities.

Tell the health stories your community needs.

👉 Learn more at bit.ly/2026CAFellowshipInfo

Thank you to Blue Shield of California Foundation, The California Endowment and The California Wellness Foundation for supporting this important program.

10/14/2025

Working with data on your next reporting project?

Here are some valuable tips shared during our Data Fellowship Week by MaryJo Webster, data editor of the Star Tribune and Center for Health Journalism Data Senior Fellow, and Meghan Hoyer, data journalism director of the Washington Post.

10/08/2025

Tony Iton, the CEO of The Health Trust and lecturer of health policy and management, UC Berkeley Public Health, kicked off our Data Fellowship Week yesterday with his presentation, "Using Data to Unearth Health Inequity."

He emphasized that health is influenced by broader social and political factors than genetics and access to quality care. Health can be shaped by narrative and right now the White House is pushing an exclusionary narrative. But reporters can shift that narrative.

10/07/2025

The Center for Health Journalism is proud to announce the 17 journalists who are participating in our 2025 Data Fellowship.

Our program equips reporters to use the power of original data analysis to investigate health care, health equity and child well-being challenges, and to highlight promising paths forward.

They are joining us today to launch our five-month program. It includes a multi-day, in-person learning institute, reporting grants of $2,000, and ongoing virtual training and mentorship with some of the nation’s most respected data journalists.

Read the press release:
bit.ly/CHJ2025DataFellows (Link also in bio)

We are grateful for the support of the , the and .

Congratulations to our 2025 Data Fellows! We are excited to support your reporting and deepen your data skills in the coming months!

Follow for updates this week and through the year.

09/15/2025

📢 Attention: Our annual Domestic Violence Symposium is happening next week on September 25! This is a vital opportunity for journalists to learn how to cover domestic violence with nuance and sensitivity.

📅 The virtual symposium is open to reporters nationwide and will take place on September 25, 2025, from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM PT.

Featured speakers include:
✅ Krista Colón, Executive Director, California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
✅ Leigh Goodmark, Associate Dean & Professor of Law, University of Maryland
✅ Julianne McShane, News & Engagement Writer, Mother Jones; Senior Fellow, 2024 DV Fellow
✅ Brian O’Connor, VP, Public Education, Futures Without Violence
✅ Casey Taft, PhD, National Center for PTSD & Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine

Reporters with California-focused story ideas who attend the virtual symposium will be eligible to apply for a reporting grant of $2,000–$10,000. You’ll also be eligible to compete for an additional $1,000–$2,000 engagement grant.

🗓️ Don't miss out on this opportunity! Register for the Virtual Symposium on September 25 today 👉 bit.ly/RegDVSymposium

🎯 The deadline to apply for the Impact Fund is October 23, 2025.

08/27/2025

Join us for our annual Domestic Violence Symposium & Impact Reporting Fund, a vital opportunity for journalists to learn how to cover domestic violence with nuance and sensitivity. The virtual symposium—open to reporters nationwide—will take place on September 25, 2025, from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM PT.

🎤 Panel discussions include:
✔️ The impact of current federal policies on domestic violence survivorship
✔️Promising prevention models
✔️Conversations around criminalization and restorative justice
✔️The challenges reporters face when covering domestic violence sensitively

Reporters with California-focused story ideas who attend the virtual symposium will be eligible to apply for a reporting grant of $2,000–$10,000, plus five months of professional mentorship from a veteran journalist. You’ll also be eligible to compete for an additional $1,000–$2,000 engagement grant.

🗓️ Mark your calendars for September 25 and register for the virtual symposium today at bit.ly/2025DVSymposium or at the link in bio.

🎯 Deadline to apply for the Impact Fund is October 23, 2025.

08/11/2025

⏳ Last call! Tomorrow is the last day to apply to our Data Fellowship!

If you’ve been thinking about applying, now’s the time! Our Data Fellowship application closes tomorrow, August 12. This is your opportunity to join a cohort of innovators, gain access to mentorship, and develop the skills and network you need to bring bold ideas to life.

The fellowship offers journalists a stipend to defray reporting costs and five months of training in data reporting.

Don’t let the deadline pass you by! Apply today 🔗 👉 bit.ly/2025DataFellowship

08/04/2025

🔥 Extreme heat is no longer just a weather story. It's a public health emergency. 🔥

Join us for our webinar on Thursday, August 7 at 10 am PST/ 1 pm EST to explore the rising human toll of heat waves and what can be done to prevent more deaths.

This webinar will feature the expert voices of:

🎙️ Alejandra Borunda, Climate and Health Reporter for 's Climate Desk
🎙️ Katherine Davis-Young, Senior Field Correspondent,
🎙️ David Michaels, Epidemiologist & former head of OSHA

From innovative local responses to stalled federal action, this is a must-attend for journalists covering , , , or .

🔗 Register now: bit.ly/XtremeHeatWebReg

This webinar is made possible by