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workshop

When Veterans Come Home

Photo : Nina Berman / NOOR: Spc. Robert Acosta, 20, was a passenger in a humvee outside Baghdad when an Iraqi teenager threw a grenade into the vehicle, permanently mangling his left leg and ripping off his right arm.

WHYY Studios
Philadelphia PA

April 1 - 2, 2011

A workshop for journalists in greater Philadelphia covering service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Program and web resources made possible by generous funding from the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation.

Covering  combat veterans remains one of the special challenges of the post-9/11 world. Here are resources gleaned from "When Veterans Come Come," a two-day workshop for local journalists and regional news organizations in the greater Philadelphia area.

Attended by 21 reporters, editors and producers representing 12 news organizations, the workshop featured a wide range of local and national mental health and policy experts, award-winning journalists and veterans’ advocates. The workshop included background briefings as well as specialized reporting skills training to enhance the practical ability of local journalists to report on veterans knowledgeably, ethically and effectively.

Location

WHYY Studios Philadelphia, PA 19106
United States
See map: Google Maps

The workshop was open to reporters for print, broadcast and online media; and editors, photographers, producers or bloggers. Staff, contract and freelance journalists were eligible.

The workshop:

  • Served as a forum for improving journalists’ knowledge of critical issues such as access to health care, education and employment, post-traumatic stress disorder, female combat veterans, suicide and children and family issues
  • Explored new research, reporting ideas and best practices with leading mental health and policy experts
  • Confronted challenges — and identified opportunities — that exist for local journalists pursuing these stories with limited resources
  • Provided practical tools to enable journalists to successfully produce stories that address the challenges facing returning veterans

Speakers

Helen Benedict

Professor, Columbia Journalism School

Sandra L. Bloom, M.D.

Psychiatrist and Associate Professor of Health Management and Policy

Anita Chandra, Ph.D.

Manager, RAND Corporation Behavioral and Social Sciences Group

Lisa Chedekel

Co-Founder, Connecticut Health Investigative Team

Paula Domenici, Ph.D

Adjunct Assistant Professor, USU Center for Deployment Psychology

Patrick Dugan

Chief Judge, Philadelphia Veterans Court

Arthur C. Evans Jr, Ph.D.

Director, Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services

Marsha Four

Executive Director, Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service and Education Center

Susan Kaplan

Reporter, WFCR

Kelly Kennedy

Health Policy Reporter, USA Today

T. Christian Miller

Senior Reporter, ProPublica

Arlene Notoro Morgan

Associate Dean of Prizes and Programs, Columbia Journalism School

Jim MacMillan

Independent journalist, educator and consultant

Patrick Murphy

Former U.S. Congressman

Joseph Pyle

President, Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation

David Riggs, Ph.D.

Executive Director, Center for Development Psychology

Steven Sayers

Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Andrew Stone, M.D.

Director, PTSD Clinical Team at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center

Paul Sullivan

Executive Director, Veterans for Common Sense

See all»