Focus Mental Health: An Opportunity for an Ongoing Conversation
The idea for Focus Mental Health (FMH) grew out of a long series of observations about life unfolding around us and increasing encounters with students in crisis, as well as headlines in the news.
We decided to create an ongoing publication on mental health and related issues that would allow us to examine what was going on around us and explain it to others, while giving students the opportunity to do journalism on these issues in various forms.
Journalism educators across the country have started looking for ways to enhance training of students by having them cover real-life situations where they produce multimedia content , filling a void left by traditional publications in their communities. The approach, described by some as akin to a teaching-hospital model, is also referred to as experiential learning. It differs from work on a student newspaper in that students receive supervision and editing from news professionals rather than peers.
Our journalism program has been moving toward an ongoing publication such as FMH by publishing student work on elections, including live TV coverage of the 2016 presidential election—as well as work on courses abroad, such as the D-Day 70th commemoration program out of Normandy and Paris(2014), and, significantly, the magazine on transitions in Cuba, created from reporting done during the week President Barack Obama made his historic visit, in 2016.
Much like colleagues in groups such as the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication(AEJMC), we have found that the higher sense of accountability required on projects headed for publication produces better work. But this realization was not easy to integrate into the everyday routine of our small program. nt up a few trial balloons as we toyed with topics and logistics. Mental health came into sharper view as a multi-layered area for us to explore. The logistics seemed a little easier after deciding upon the topic. Faculty made plans to integrate mental health issues in various courses to get students thinking about work they might develop. Dr. Theodora Ruhs, our art director, used some of her plans for the website in her News Design course. Students in Feature Writing developed ideas. A few students took projects on as part of senior projects, and others are doing independent study under faculty supervision. Pem McNerney, a veteran journalist who has taught for us, was available for copyediting and coaching, a role she did for us stateside when we did our D-Day course abroad in 2014.
We drew most of our energy from the network of experts in and around our campus that daily confront and manage the details of helping and treating people with mental illness in our CCSU community. The experts quoted in articles throughout this first issue, with a special thanks to Dr. Carolyn Fallahi, a faculty leader on these issues who wrote a column for us, were generous with their time and expertise. With their continued participation, we hope to continue to develop content and open up a space for an ongoing discussion of mental health and society.
We are holding our first event, a panel discussion on the challenges of reporting on mental illness, April 12, 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Founders Hall. Consider joining us as we launch FMH and start discussing the work ahead for us and the broader community.
Vivian B. Martin
Professor and Chair
Department of Journalism