Fellowships for mental health journalism available

With the inception of the Center's Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism in 1996, (Mrs) Carter launched one of the most successful national programmes in combating the stigma associated with mental illnesses.

These fellowships look for proposals that will help reduce stigma and discrimination by informing the public about mental health issues and experiences. There are two fellowships available to South African journalists annually, together with six American and two Romanian journalists. The South African fellows are awarded grants of R50 000 to study and report on a particular issue within the mental health field for one year. They are administered by the South African Depression and Anxiety Support Group and the Wits Journalism Department.

Two trips

Fellows will make two expense-paid trips to The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The first in September at the beginning of the fellowship year to meet advisers, task force members and other fellows to discuss their projects with the second visit at the end of the fellowship year to present their completed projects and discuss challenges and successes in mental health reporting.

The idea of these fellowships is educate the public, raise awareness and inform other journalists in the field. For more information on applying for the fellowship go to:
www.cartercenter.org/health/mental_health/fellowships/index.html.

The deadline for applications is 28 April 2008.

In 2007 the two recipients of the 2007/8 Fellowships were Pieter van Zyl of Huisegenoot and Ilse Pauw of Health24. Applications can be sent to: Zane Wilson, South African Depression & Anxiety Support Group, P.O. Box 650301 Benmore, 2010.