Fellowship supports new degree in health journalism

From M, spring 2003

Marsha Ellen May Sternberg, a 1970 graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC), enjoyed a remarkable career. She was a crime reporter and feature writer at the Palm Beach Post, then served 18 years at the National Enquirer.

After Sternberg died in August of 2001, her husband, James Marsh Sternberg, former assistant professor of radiology at the U, established a fellowship in her name for students in health journalism, a new one-year master's degree program created by SJMC and the School of Public Health.

Faculty from both schools developed the curriculum, which balances training in journalism and the health sciences. The program will begin in June 2003.

"Our first class reflects the rich diversity of backgrounds that we were hoping to attract," said SJMC assistant professor Gary Schwitzer. "There are people from newspapers, Web sites, televisions news, multimedia and video production, nursing, and public health."