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“The program gave me a much better understanding of the complex problems facing global health experts, and today I cover my beat with more authority and precision.” -Kurt Loft, 2004 Knight Bootcamp |
Welcome to the CDC Knight Public Health Journalism Boot Camp
Please Note: This program is no longer active and we are no longer accepting applications.
Our mission is to raise the quality of public health and medical reporting across the globe. With lead funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, our programs seek to identify the future leaders of public health journalism. They give these rising stars unprecedented access to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), home to some of the world’s greatest public health thinkers, investigators and policy makers. Journalists leave our programs with more than just a deeper understanding of the basic science. They also develop the skills to quickly identify the great uncovered stories in public health, properly analyze emerging trends, and accurately report on the important health issues of the day.
The six-day boot camp offers a crash course in the basics of public health science and biostatistics. It is open to any journalist, whether print, online or broadcast, interested in learning more about public health science.
Says Kurt Loft, science writer for The Tampa Tribune:
“As a science journalist, I gained invaluable experience at the 2004 CDC Knight Boot Camp on Epidemiology. The sessions with leading experts in the field offered a fascinating glimpse into the often-invisible world of disease, of past and future health threats, and of plans of attack that inevitably affect the public – and readers of newspapers. After being absorbed in lively discussion both with scientists and fellow writers, I came away not only educated, but enlightened. The program gave me a much better understanding of the complex problems facing global health experts, and today I cover my beat with more authority and precision. The time spent with journalists from around the world also underscored the importance our own mission, and how the best questions are the ones we have yet to ask.”
Past participants of our programs include:
- Nancy Franklin, staff writer with the New Yorker
- Marilynn Marchione, chief medical writer with the Associated Press
- Paul Shin, staff writer with the New York Daily News
- Virginia Smith, staff writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer
- Amy Tsao, staff writer for Business Week