MindSite News Reaches 20+ Awards for its Mental Health Reporting

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Jun 25, 2024, 13:18 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., June 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MindSite News, the only national news outlet in the U.S. dedicated to reporting on mental health, received four new awards for journalism excellence this month, bringing its total awards to 21.

The most recent editorial award was the Stillwater Award for the best collaboration between an incarcerated writer and an outside reporter. This award is shared by Josh McGhee of MindSite News and prison journalist Kory McClary. Their stories exposed the neglect and death of a 49-year-old man in the "crazy unit" of New Jersey State Prison. One judge commented that the stories were "full of details never seen by the average reader."

Also this year, the Digital Health Awards honored McGhee with a gold award for reporting on Florida's Baker Act, which has forced tens of thousands of kids and adults into psychiatric hospitals, gave MindSite News writer Celeste Hamilton Dennis a gold award for her coverage of undocumented therapists and honored Yesenia Barrios for her reporting on immigrants and mental health.

McGhee, a 2023-24 Rosalynn Carter Mental Health fellow and Maynard Institute Fellow, also received a Studs Terkel Award for his work in Chicago creating "fresh, important work that taps into and spotlights underserved communities," said Britt Julious of award sponsor Public Narrative. Hamilton Dennis was honored earlier this year with a Beat Reporting Award from the Association of Health Care Journalists for stories on solutions in mental health care that looked at Black doulas, a Chinatown dental clinic that screens for depression and a California program to train undocumented therapists.

"From the very beginning, our goal has been to offer readers original investigative and solutions reporting about a topic that historically has been ignored – and quality writing that compels them to read on," said MindSite News Founding Editor Rob Waters. "These awards tell us we're succeeding."

The MindSite News Daily was also recently honored with the Silver DANDA award for excellence in design and the 2024 Gold National Health Information Award for the Monday newsletter written by Don Sapatkin and edited by Rob Waters.

Previous MindSite News awards include a Peter Lisagor Award to Josh MCGhee, two San Francisco Press Club Awards to Sarah Henry and Julia Landau, and a gold Digital Health Award to Astrid Landon's investigation of dubious grief counseling certification agencies.

SOURCE MindSite News