Michelle Levander

This week, we announce the 11 Fellows who join us for our new California Data Fellowship, which will provide intensive mentoring on adding data reporting to journalists' toolkits.

We're happy to announce today that we have a new name and a new look. Our program is now known as the Center for Health Journalism, which better reflects our expanded range of programs and goals.

Twenty-one journalists from around the nation will receive reporting grants from the new Fund for Journalism on Child Well-Being, the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism and the National Health Journalism Fellowship.

Tomorrow evening, the Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will be celebrating its distinguished journalists of the year, and we're honored to be receiving a nod from SPJ for Reporting on Health.

"Sure, I knew hundreds of residents died in homicides or were hurt and even disabled during assaults,” said McDaniels. "But I wondered if there was something deeper going on that needed to be explored.”

The “free the data” movement has been rippling through local, state and federal agencies in recent years. California has published 55 datasets since its soft launch last August, but continues with its health data rollout.

The journalists, chosen from a competitive field, are taking part in intensive workshops and then spending six months working on ambitious health journalism projects with support from USC Annenberg.

USC Annenberg support will help journalists with ambitious projects ranging from a look at the lack of sanitation in remote Alaskan villages to an examination of the costs of Alzheimer's in Florida.

Debra Sherman died Tuesday of lung cancer after more than a year of living with the disease. She spent her final days sharing what she learned about cancer with readers.

My son's soccer injury prompted a few reflections on medical costs and coordination of care – issues more easily contemplated from a safe distance than from the emergency room.