Center for Health Journalism announces 2026 National Fellows, more than $65,000 in grants
The USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism is pleased to announce the selection of 18 talented journalists to participate in the 2026 National Fellowship, which will explore the well-being of children, youth and families across the nation.
The Fellowship class includes reporters from print, digital and broadcast media, including national outlets such as Reveal/Center for Investigative Reporting, Mother Jones, and the Nation as well as regional print and broadcast outlets including the Anchorage Daily News, Arizona Public Media, the Des Moines Register, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Gulf States Newsroom, Investigate Midwest, and the Louisville Courier Journal.
National Fellows will receive five months of expert mentoring as they produce ambitious projects in partnership with the Center on a range of health and social welfare issues, including the toll of health care deserts on families and communities; efforts to help mothers who struggle with substance use to keep their children; barriers to mental health care; how immigration enforcement practices affect the health of children and families; the disproportionate impact of asthma on marginalized children and families; Black infant mortality and the impacts of “skinny health plans” that offer very limited coverage.
The competitive program includes a multiday learning institute that provides insights into how health is shaped by community conditions, structural barriers and opportunity. Each Fellow will receive a reporting grant ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, and several will receive additional community engagement grants.
The 2026 National Fellowship is generously funded by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The National Fellowship also receives support from the Dennis Hunt Fund for Health Journalism, which is supported by individual donors.
The reporting undertaken by the talented reporters in this program will illuminate and investigate community conditions that shape well-being in communities across America. With so many changes ahead of us in health policy and child and family well-being, we are happy to support these urgent stories.
“Journalism plays a vital role in examining how structural discrimination drives the persistent health disparities we see across our nation,” said Jordan Reese, director of media relations for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “We at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are proud to support the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism and the leadership of Michelle Levander in advancing ambitious, solutions-oriented reporting on the issues that shape health and well-being.”
“Reliable, in-depth reporting on the well-being of children, youth and families plays an important role in informing community conversations and decisions,” said January Wilson Payne, senior communications manager, media relations, at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “We are pleased to support the National Fellowship and the journalists who are helping communities better understand the factors that shape child and family well-being.”
The 2026 National Fellowship training institute will open with a keynote talk, “The Adolescent Brain: What the Latest Science Means for Youth-Serving Systems,” by Adriana Galván, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and dean of undergraduate education at UCLA.
Other highlights of the program include a field visit to an LA County program that aims to keep pregnant inmates out of jail and allow them to bond with their infants and reestablish their lives. Additional discussions during the multiday program will cover a range of other health and well-being issues, including how early adversity shapes lifelong health, youth mental health and trauma-informed care, and the challenges for families when costs rise and the safety net recedes. Fellows also will learn about data reporting, engaged journalism, strategies for impact reporting and investigating health and child welfare stories, and other journalism best practices.
We are pleased to announce our 2026 National Fellows:
Sarah Betancourt, GBH News
L.M. Boyd, Arizona Public Media
Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register
Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier Journal
Gillian Graham, Portland Press Herald/Maine Trust for Local News/National Trust for Local News
Rebecca Grant, Mother Jones/Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting
Lynn Hallarman, Mother Jones/Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting
Celeste Hamilton Dennis, MindSite News
Joseph King, Gulf States Newsroom
Maria José Lavandera, LatidoBeat
Ciara McCarthy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Erin McGroarty, The Cap Times
Michelle Polizzi, Barn Raiser
Eli Ramos, Tahoe Daily Tribune
Rebekah Sager, The Nation
Iris Samuels, Anchorage Daily News
Nick Stonesifer, Spotlight Delaware