News Releases Grants Health Journalism

Moore Foundation Awards $500,000-Plus Grant to Support Health Journalism

2018 Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Grant

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation recently made a three-year grant of $509,400 to the Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, the educational arm of the Association of Health Care Journalists headquartered at the J-School.

Association of Health Care Journalists Professional Organization is Headquartered at Missouri

Columbia, Mo. (Nov. 5, 2018) — The Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, the educational arm of the Association of Health Care Journalists, has been awarded a grant of more than half a million dollars to strengthen the knowledge and skills of health care journalists.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation made the three-year grant of $509,400 to the center to assist in educating journalists in building their knowledge base in several areas.

The nonprofit organization – based at the Missouri School of Journalism – is celebrating its 20th anniversary serving print, broadcast and online journalists.

Along with continuing the foundation’s support of a web-based core curriculum on health information technology, the grant will support a new curriculum on patient safety, curated resources for freelance journalists and an endowing sponsorship of the annual conference of AHCJ. Both graduate and undergraduate students at Mizzou have worked on the news-heavy healthjournalism.org website or attended the organization’s training events via fellowships or internships.

“We are thrilled with the Moore Foundation’s increased support and commitment to furthering the educational opportunities and resources journalists need to tell accurate health and science stories,” said associate professor Len Bruzzese, executive director of AHCJ. “Our members are driven to develop their skills and background knowledge.”

The focused work on health IT and patient safety will bring to 10 the number of core topics showcased on the healthjournalism.org website. Core topics are curated curricula that serve as specialty launch pads for reporters starting on stories, seeking some background, or wanting to keep up with the latest developments in a topic area. The pages include glossaries, key concepts, reporter tip sheets, daily blog items, first-person stories by fellow journalists, videos, data and more.

Similarly, support of freelancer resources will boost the organization’s web-based Freelance Center. The professional freelancing corps continues to grow in the United States and supplies much of the national health and medical science writing taking place. Without home newsrooms to provide guidance and other support, freelancers depend upon journalism organizations like AHCJ.

“Health care journalists are tasked with delivering reliable and accurate information about medical and scientific topics to the public,” said Stacey Bailey, communications officer at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “Providing resources and training that will better equip journalists to report on these complex topics is essential to delivering high-quality journalism.”

The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. In just 20 years, it has grown into the premier organization for training health journalists, boasting nearly 1,500 members across the United States and in several other nations. Its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. AHCJ, which is based at the Missouri School of Journalism, conducts training through its Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area. The foundation was established by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore and his wife. Visit Moore.org and follow @MooreFound.

Updated: November 5, 2020

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