Our mental health reporting guide is here

The Carter Center Journalism Resource Guide on Mental Health Reporting — available in English and Spanish — supports journalists' efforts to report accurately and effectively on mental health issues, including suicide and addiction and substance use, in ways that do not reinforce stereotypes or perpetuate stigma.

Remembering Rosalynn Carter

Widely recognized as a leading advocate for mental health and caregiving, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter was actively devoted to building a more caring society. Here's what former fellows had to say about her impact.

 

Mental Health Parity Collaborative

The Mental Health Parity Collaborative is a partnership between The Carter Center’s Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, The Center for Public Integrity, and 20 news outlets in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and the District of Columbia. More than 40 reporters and editors are working to produce stories on mental health care access, parity, and inequities in the U.S.

Image of a laptop and microphone.

The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism

Founded in 1996, the groundbreaking Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism program awards year-long, non-residential fellowships to journalists to report on a mental health topic of their choice.

Fellows receive a generous stipend, training, networking opportunities, and access to top experts and resources in mental health and journalism.

Meet the Fellows

The Carter Center’s Mental Health Journalism Fellows report on some of society’s biggest mental health challenges during their year-long, non-residential fellowship.

MEET ALL 2023-2024 FELLOWS
Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter talks to fellows at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

"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 U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter

Recent News

Featured Stories and Program Updates

©Lisa Kurian Philip/WBEZ: Isabelle Dizon contacted her campus counseling center when she hit a low point during her sophomore year of college, but never heard back. Now a junior at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she hopes the school hires someone at the center to, at the very least, pick up the phone.

She called the number on her syllabus offering counseling. No one picked up.

March 25, 2024
©Navya Shukla/The Oglethorpe Echo: Katie Edwards, a counselor at Oglethorpe County Elementary School, helps third-grader Londyn Wilson with a work- sheet during a guidance lesson last month. The lessons are regularly held to guide students' empathy, emotion regulation, perseverance and more.

High need, low accessibility: Oglethorpe County residents face barriers to mental health care, even as teens and schools are willing to have the conversation

March 25, 2024
©Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian: Sickle cell patient Alexis Tappan, right, is checked out by Rana Cooper on at the Methodist Hospital Cancer Institute and Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center. Memphis is home to one of the nation’s largest populations of adults living with sickle cell disease.

For many Black sickle cell patients, care must reach deeper

March 14, 2024
©Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian: April Ward-McGrory is a sickle cell patient, double amputee and advocate for those living with sickle cell disease.

Mental health issues complicate treatment for sickle cell patients

March 14, 2024

Language guide for reporting on mental health

The Carter Center Journalism Resource Guide for Mental Health Reporting supports journalists’ efforts to report accurately and effectively on mental health topics, including addiction and substance use, in ways that do not reinforce stereotypes or negative perceptions. This guide can serve as a starting point for new journalists and as a reference guide for experienced journalists.

FREE DOWNLOAD in English and Spanish
 

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