Kelly Kennedy
2008-2009 Fellow
Reporter, Times News Service
Alexandria, Va.

Army Times medical science reporter and fellow Kelly Kennedy spent a year exploring PTSD in military personnel for her Fellowship project. Her work was published in a yearlong series in her newspaper as well as in her recent book, "They Fought for Each Other."  Kennedy, an Army veteran who served in Somalia in the early 1990s, embedded with troops during a 13-week trip to Iraq. She went to the war-torn country hoping to learn more about PTSD. She recorded how the soldiers dealt with stress. One company in particular lost 14 men and mutinied.  Kennedy said the yearlong series and intensive time commitment probably wouldn't have happened without the fellowship.  "The fellowship gave me the kick in the pants," she said.

The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships For Mental Health Journalism

"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. They influence their peers and stimulate discussion among the general public, and an informed public can reduce stigma and discrimination."
~Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter

Learn more about the 2011-2012 Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism recipients >>

Mental illnesses constitute some of the most serious, unrecognized, and under-reported health problems in the United States and around the world. As part of an international effort to reduce stigma and discrimination, The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism provide stipends to journalists from the United States and Romania—and previously in South Africa—to report on topics related to mental health or mental illnesses. The goals of the fellowships are 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
• 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.

Who Should Apply and How

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