Episode 14: Journalist Aneri Pattani shares her experiences reporting on addiction and advice for journalists entering the space

In this special episode, we are joined by journalist Aneri Pattani. Ms. Pattani shares how her interest in the field of mental health journalism grew from a personal experience during her college years. She discusses how reporting on mental health and addiction has traditionally fallen under the crime beat and has therefore generally failed to cover the public health aspect of the larger story. She talks about mental health and addiction as systematic issues that should be reported in their larger context, rather than covered as individual events.

Ms. Pattani offers her thoughts on how journalists can prepare to report on these health and science topics and shares helpful resources, including the Association of Health Care Journalists and The Open Notebook. She also touches on how reporting on mental health and addiction differs from other types of reporting.

Ms. Pattani discusses her writing process, experiences working in this field, and the evolution of mental health and addiction reporting. Finally, she shares advice for both seasoned and new reporters who cover and would like to cover mental health and addiction.

Aneri Pattani is a senior correspondent at KFF Health News, a national nonprofit outlet covering US health care and health policy. Ms. Pattani reports on a range of public health topics, with a focus on mental health, suicide, and substance use. Over the past year, she’s produced a series of text and audio stories – published with NPR and CNN among other national outlets – about how state and local governments are spending their opioid settlement funds. She was a 2019 recipient of the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism. She is pursuing her master’s in public health as a Bloomberg fellow at Johns Hopkins University.

 

LINKS:

Association of Health Care Journalists

The Open Notebook

How ERs Fail Patients With Addiction: One Patient’s Tragic Death

From Uber Rides to Patient Advocates: What It Takes to Increase ER Addiction Treatment

Aneri Pattani (squarespace.com)

KFF Health News

ASAM Media Relations & Resources

Treat Addiction Save Lives Podcast

 

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, you are not alone. Treatment is available and recovery is possible. Visit ASAM’s Patient Resources page for more information.

 

The information shared in this podcast episode is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice.

The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or ASAM management.