Health Media Jobs and Opportunities: Raise Health Awareness Via Social Media

This week, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles offers a unique opportunity to oversee an initiative aiming to raise mental health awareness in the entertainment industry and via social media. We also highlight various medical groups and institutes seeking online-savvy media professionals. In addition to the latest information on health journalism fellowships, workshops and other educational opportunities, check out our new listings for awards and competitions.

To keep up with the latest discussions on topics relevant to health journalists, follow Career GPS posts and job listings via RSS. To submit a job listing, please email knativid@usc.edu.

Featured Listing

Statewide Coordinator, CalMHSA Project, Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (via reader submission)
Location: Burbank, CA
Status: Full Time
Medium: Other

The Entertainment Industries Council Inc., a unique entertainment industry-based nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing the power and influence of the media to communicate about health and social issues is seeking a California Statewide Coordinator for a media based project to engage the entertainment industry, news media and social media to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination.

New Job and Internship Listings

Brand Editor, MedTech Media
Location: New Gloucester, ME
Status: Full Time
Medium: Print, Online

Senior Writer/Editor, UnitedHealth Group
Location: Golden Valley, MN
Status: Full Time
Medium: Other

Social Media Officer, Sabin Vaccine Institute (via mediabistro)
Location: Washington, DC
Status: Full Time
Medium: Online

Senior Editor & Staff Writer, Massachusetts Medical Society
Location: Waltham, MA
Status: Full Time
Medium: Print, Online

Staff Writer, Health Care, CQ Roll Call
Location: Washington, DC
Status: Full Time
Medium: Print, Online

Biliingual Health and Fitness Editor, international magazine publisher (via mediabistro)
Location: New York, NY
Status: Freelance/Project Basis
Medium: Print

Assistant Research Editor, Prevention magazine
Location: Emmaus, PA
Status: Full Time
Medium: Print

Health/Science Reporter, The Gainesville Sun (via JournalismJobs)
Location: Gainesville, FL
Status: Full Time
Medium: Print

Reporters, Medical and Health Industries, Medical Daily (via mediabistro)
Location: New York, NY
Status: Full Time
Medium: Online

Fellowships and Grants

George Polk Grants for Investigative Reporting, Long Island University
Eligibility: Applicants should have a proven track record as an investigative reporter. Special consideration will be given to journalists who have been laid off or are no longer employed by a news organization.
Deadline: Unspecified
From the Website: This program is intended as a resource for the reporter who always has wanted to dig into a particular topic or who has developed useful expertise – who knows "where the bodies are buried" – on a matter of public interest that may be local, national or international in scope. Grants will range from $2,500 to $10,000, depending on the duration and complexity of the proposed project."

New America Media 2011 Fellowship Program on Health and Environmental Health for California Ethnic Media Journalists, New America Media
Eligibility: By application (download link above)
Deadline: Sept. 9, 2011
From the Website:"The fellowship will support ethnic media journalists based in California to research and write at least one in-depth story, documenting the human impact of a health care issue, or policy issue, or the impact of environmental toxins on human health. The story, or series, will be published or broadcasted in the fellows' respective ethnic media outlets, and selected stories will be published on NAM's website. Fellows will receive a $2000 stipend at the completion of the fellowship program. In addition, Fellows will participate in a mandatory two-day workshop hosted by the University of California Sacramento Center from Oct. 13-14, 2011 where they will meet state level policymakers, and leading health reporters, advocates and researchers. For more information, please contact: Ngoc Nguyen, nnguyen@newamericamdia.org, 415-503-4170."

Spring 2012 Global Health Fellowship, International Reporting Project
Eligibility: U.S. journalists with at least five years of professional experience in any medium.
Deadline: Oct. 3, 2011
From the Website:"The International Reporting Project (IRP) is offering up to five IRP Fellowships for U.S. journalists to report on global health topics such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, maternal and child health or new scientific research aimed at reducing the impact of global diseases. The nine-week reporting Fellowships will begin in mid-February 2012 and extend through mid-April 2012. Fellows will spend two weeks in Washington at the IRP offices preparing for their overseas trips and then five weeks reporting on their chosen health topics in the country of their choice. Fellows will return to Washington for a final two weeks of reporting and presentations of their findings."

Educational Opportunities

Hiding in Plain Sight: Mining California Hospital Data for Great Stories , California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships and Association of Health Care Journalists
Eligibility: All participants are welcome (it helps to have a working knowledge of Excel)
Program: Webinar will take place on Tues., Sept. 13, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. PDT
From the Website: "Does your local hospital place more cardiac stents than others? Do more of its patients leave the emergency room without being seen? Does it have a high level of C-section births? These questions and others are relatively easy to answer thanks to a data gold mine kept by the obscure California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. It doesn't matter if your hospital is public, nonprofit or for-profit, data on its patients and services are available online. Presenter Charles Ornstein, a Pulitzer Prize-winning senior reporter for ProPublica, will help you use this data to uncover great stories in your community."

Diabetes Issues Today: A Health Reporting Seminar, National Press Foundation and The American Public Health Association
Eligibility: Register by Sept. 26, 2011
Program: Free, one-day program on Tues., Sept. 27, 2011
From the Website: "Diabetes is the 7th largest killer of people in the U.S., affecting 25.8 million Americans and costing an estimated $174 billion. Minimal press attention is given to this subject, though its impact is growing in the U.S. and in global communities. Learn more about the issues surrounding this silent and increasing health problem, from medical explanations, to personal choices, to policy considerations."

Workshop: Reporting on Intimate Partner Violence, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
Eligibility: Apply for consideration; due date: Sept. 26, 2011 at 5 p.m. EST
Program: The workshop, supported by funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will take place October 21 and 22, 2011 at the Columbia Journalism School in New York.
From the Website: "The workshop will feature a wide range of national and local mental health and policy experts, award-winning journalists, educators and prevention advocates. It will include background briefings as well as specialized reporting skills training to enhance journalists' capacity to report on relationship violence knowledgeably, ethically and effectively. It will examine these issue across diverse communities and special populations including teenagers, immigrants and refugees; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals."

Awards

K. Dunn Gifford Journalism Award, Oldways
Eligibility: The competition is open to all reporters (print, online & broadcast), freelancers and bloggers. The contest is open to original work published between January 1, 2010 - September 30, 2011. The piece must cover this year's theme - the Mediterranean diet.
Deadline: Oct. 1, 2011
From the Website: "Back in 1990, food enthusiast and advocate K. Dun Gifford started a nonprofit educational organization called Oldways to change the way people eat. He believed that positive and practical solutions, grounded in science, traditions and delicious foods and drinks, would help address the threatening tsunami of chronic diseases. As a tribute to our founder and visionary who died in May 2010, Oldways announces the K. Dun Gifford Journalism Award, an annual prize to recognize and honor the important role of communications in changing the way people eat. The 2011 winner will visit the beautiful Mediterranean Region where he or she is free to explore the culture, food, and atmosphere of the location freely, with no expectations or assignments."

Competitions

Digital Media Competition, 5th International Entertainment Education Conference
Eligibility: Entry is open to any individual, group, or company (profit or non-profit) in any country, except for staff of the EE5 Conference. The submission needs to have been produced after January 1, 2000.
Deadline: Midnight, Sept. 30, 2011
From the Website: "The EE5 Conference invites you to submit your most innovative and entertaining short-form digital production on the following topic: Motivating behavior change around any health topic."