Posted: Monday 20 April 2009
Today mental health charity Mind announces the shortlist for the Mind Journalist of the Year Award 2009, which rewards excellence in reporting on mental health issues. In a year that has seen an unprecedented level of mental health anti-stigma campaigning, Mind has been inundated with entries for the award, from news and consumer media alike.
Mind's Head of Media Claire Ashby said:
"In the year that has seen the launch of the Time to Change anti-stigma campaign, it has been highly encouraging to see the media follow suit with an increase in sensitive and informed coverage of mental health issues. We're delighted to have had such a large number of submissions for this year's award. The scope and quality of entries has been outstanding, leading to a shortlist double the size of previous years. Good reporting is a reflection of increasing interest and understanding of mental health issues, and is an indication that our approach to mental health is finally changing for the better."
The Mind Awards are part of the charity's annual Mind week (9-16 May), which focuses this year on men and mental health. On Monday 11 May, Mind will launch its Get it off your chest campaign with new research comparing the way men and women experience and deal with emotional problems. The campaign will call on the Government to address the lack of tailored mental health support for men and encourage men to seek help when they need it.
The Mind Journalist of the Year will be announced at the Mind Awards ceremony, along with the winners of the Student Journalist of the Year, Book of the Year and Champion of the Year awards. The ceremony will be hosted by Mind's President Lord Melvyn Bragg on Thursday 14 May.
Mind Journalist of the Year shortlist
Clare Allan, Society Guardian
Clare Allan's regular columns provide a diverse mix of personal experience and thorough research to highlight the injustices and misunderstandings in the way that Government and society think about mental health.Thoughtful and persuasive, Clare's voice shines throughout.
Carole Cadwalladr, The Observer
Carole Cadwalladr's thought-provoking articles explore the uneasy relationship between the media and mental health, examining the potential for the media to treat people with mental distress unfairly, and the role the it can play in tragedies such as the recent suicides in Bridgend.
Patrick Cockburn, The Independent
Patrick Cockburn's work incorporates both his own experiences of having a son with schizophrenia, and his son's experience of living with schizophrenia, to give a sensitive and honest view of what it is like to be a family affected by enduring mental distress.
Hannah Ebelthite, Top Sante
Hannah Ebelthite's informative writing discusses how the greater awareness of psychology is changing society's attitudes to mental health problems, raising a difficult topic in mainstream women's media.
Daisy Greenwell, Big Issue
Daisy Greenwell tackles the issues that matter to mental health patients head-on, looking into the drawbacks of psychiatric medication and the ongoing problem of lack of patient choice for mental health treatment.
Eleanor Harding, Wandsworth Guardian & associated local papers
Eleanor Harding's work approaches even the most overlooked of mental health issues and seeks to demystify them with clear, accessible reporting on individuals' experiences of mental distress, avoiding sensationalism and allowing us to see interviewees as everyday people.
Amelia Hill, The Observer
Amelia Hill's detailed investigative work brings to light failings in the mental health system, and the problems created for individuals who do not have the right mental health support.
Jenny Hope and Daniel Martin, Daily Mail
Jenny Hope and Daniel Martin have produced consistent and thorough reporting, highlighting important issues around conditions for people with Azheimer's in a series of exposes.
Caroline Jones, Daily Mirror
Caroline Jones' helpful and highly informative article explores the boundaries between diagnosed mental health problems and PMS, looking at the relationship between mental and physical health, and the sometimes routine assumptions of medical practitioners.
Nina Lakhani, The Independent on Sunday
Nina Lakhani's sustained and imaginative investigative journalism covers wide-ranging issues and injustices, shining a light on people's basic rights and giving a voice to those less often heard.
Toby Wiseman, Men's Health
Toby Wiseman's expressive writing gives an intimate account of living with depression, casting a fresh perspective on its affects on the individual.
Student Journalist of the Year
For the third year running, Mind will also be presenting a student journalism award, to recognise and encourage excellent mental health reporting in student publications.
The shortlisted student journalists are:
Nicola Byron, Impact (Nottingham University)
Jennifer Nash, Refuel (University of East London)
Notes to editors