Kenny Goldberg, longtime health reporter for KPBS, received one of the prestigious Kaiser Fellowships in Global Health Reporting for 2009. The annual fellowship, awarded to 16 journalists this year, awards up to $10,000 for expenses relating to a specific project.
The fellowship program supports the broader effort to report and inform the public of major health issues in the U.S. and throughout the world. Journalists are encouraged to research medical, social, economic, political and cultural implications of these issues.
Goldberg’s project will examine the impact of needle exchange programs in combating Hepatitis C. The city of New York has one of the nation's most comprehensive programs to combat hepatitis C among people at highest risk.
“My series will examine how the program operates in New York and whether it's helping to curb the spread of hepatitis C. I'll also look into the comparative lack of services in San DiegoCounty, and how this situation is putting people at risk of contracting hepatitis C,” says Goldberg.
“This is a story that has a lot of fascinating elements: medicine, the intersection between science and politics, and public policy towards drug addicts. And at the core of this story is an infectious disease that is a major public health threat,” says Goldberg.
Goldberg has been a reporter with KPBS since 1997. He has earned numerous awards, including several Golden Mikes and honors form the Society of Professional
Journalists and the San Diego Press Club. Kenny is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists.
KPBS is a public service of San DiegoStateUniversity, serving the region with TV, radio, and Internet content that is educational as well as entertaining- and free of commercial interruption.
