In yet another successful year of connecting medicine with the media, the Texas Medical Association’s Council on Health Promotion honored two Texas health care reporters with the 2023 Texas Health Journalist of the Year award in the 66th Anson Jones, MD, Awards news media competition.
The council, which oversees the contest, modified the top category this year to recognize outstanding health reporting in regions big and small across the state. Prizes are awarded in eight categories for print, broadcast, and online media.
Seema Mathur won the Large Market prize for a series of health stories that aired on KUT 90.5, Austin’s NPR radio station. Karin McCay, a longtime anchor and health reporter for KCBD-TV in Lubbock, won the Small Market award for her entries. They headline 2023’s winners for reporting completed in 2022.
“This year, stories submitted for the Anson Jones, MD, Awards covered a number of very important topics like opioid overdose issues, access to care, and medical debt,” said
Li-Yu Mitchell, MD, the council’s chair. “While the COVID-19 pandemic is still on everyone’s mind and was reflected in this year’s entries, a lot of stories this year focused on a broader variety of medical issues affecting patients.”
In addition, TMA “wanted to make sure journalists in smaller cities who do not have as many resources as those in bigger areas also get a chance to win the top honor,” she said.
One of Ms. Mathur’s winning entries explores how a group called M3 – Mobile, Medical and Mental Health Care Team – helps Austin’s homeless population access care.
The top story by Ms. McCay featured Texas Tech University Health Science Center’s Stroke & Aphasia Recovery, or STAR, program. The article followed a Lubbock physician who became a stroke patient at the center and described his recovery there.
“Glenn Boris, a retired pediatrician, was one of my favorite go-to interviews when he was in private practice many years ago,” said Ms. McKay.
The judges – members of the TMA council and former journalists – called the story uplifting and hopeful.
See the full list of winners in all categories in this year’s competition.
TMA physician leaders presented many of the awards to the winning journalists this spring and early summer.
“This is the part of the contest I enjoy a lot,” said Dr. Mitchell. “I get to meet the reporters who have put in all the hard work to make their stories impactful.”
TMA will start accepting entries for the 2024 Anson Jones awards in December. Entry details will be posted on the Anson Jones webpage.