Two South Africans for 2008/9 Carter Center Journalism Fellows

Botha and Naidoo join six fellows from the US, and two still to be announced from Romania. Each South African fellow will receive a R50 000 stipend to study and report on a particular issue within the mental health field for one year.

The fellows will convene in Atlanta at The Carter Center, 22 - 24 September 2008, to meet with former US First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the Center's Mental Health Task Force, and the Journalism Fellowship Advisory Board to discuss planned topics of study. The fellowships are part of an international effort by the Carter Center Mental Health Program to reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses and decrease incorrect and stereotypical information.

"Significant impact"

"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," Carter said. "They influence their peers and stimulate discussion among the general public, and an informed public has the potential to reduce stigma and discrimination."

Botha will investigate the role of traditional healers in treatment of people with mental illnesses and Naidoo will write a series of articles on the lack of mental health workers and state of the community mental health system in SA.

Since the beginning of the fellowship programme, more than 100 newspaper and magazine articles have been written, five books published, four television documentaries produced, and hours of radio time aired.

Fellows' projects have garnered awards from Mental Health America (formerly the National Mental Health Association), the American Psychological Association, Amnesty International, and the Association of Health Care Journalists, as well as Emmy Award and Pulitzer Prize nominations.

Other recipients

The US recipients are Aaron Glantz, a freelance journalist from Berkeley; Jessica Graham, a freelance journalist from Brooklyn; Tom Hanson, anchor, producer and reporter from KDLT-TV, NBC 5, Sioux Falls; Kim Horner, staff writer for Dallas Morning News, Dallas; Kelly Kennedy, report for Times News Service,
Alexandria; and Elaine Korry; freelance journalist from Richmond. The Romanian recipients are Emilia Chiscop, editor of the Education/Culture and Social Department, Ziarul de Iasi Newspaper, Iasi, Romania; and Vlad Mixich, contributing writer, Esquire-Romania, Craiova.

The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships would like to acknowledge the University of the Witwatersrand, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), and the Center for Independent Journalism, Bucharest, Romania.

For more info, go to http://cartercenter.org/news/pr/mental_health_fellows_2008_2009.html.