Fresno – The Central Valley Journalism Collaborative (CVJC) and the Fresno State Institute for Media and Public Trust are pleased to announce veteran San Joaquin Valley journalist Tim Sheehan is joining CVJC as its first Health Care Reporting Fellow.
Sheehan’s hiring is possible thanks to a partnership between the two organizations that’s designed to enhance health journalism across the region and address critical health care challenges facing Valley communities.
This full-time fellowship is generously funded by grants from the Institute for Media and Public Trust, the California Health Care Foundation, the California Endowment and the James B. McClatchy Foundation. All work produced through the fellowship will be available at no charge to news outlets in the Valley.
Sheehan will produce in-depth stories plus data-driven multimedia content focusing on access to care, health disparities, environmental health and a wide range of critical issues affecting Valley residents.
The fellowship aims to mentor the next generation of journalists by pairing seasoned expertise with student journalists. In his new role, Sheehan will collaborate with a student at Fresno State, plus partner with reporters in the CVJC Health Equity Reporting Lab.
Sheehan has spent more than 25 years of his career as an editor and reporter at The Fresno Bee, where he most recently worked as a senior reporter. He’s reported on issues ranging from transportation and agriculture to local government and public health. His deep understanding of the region’s diverse communities, his commitment to in-depth journalism and his experience mentoring and teaching young journalists make him ideally suited to the fellowship. Sheehan has spent nearly a decade teaching journalism at local colleges including Fresno Pacific University, Fresno City College and Clovis Community College.
Prior to joining The Bee in 1998, Sheehan worked for The Selma Enterprise, The Hanford Sentinel and the Easton-Caruthers Twin City Times. His work has been honored with numerous state and national journalism awards, including a McClatchy President’s Award as part of team coverage of Yosemite’s 150th anniversary and from the Center for California Studies for his work covering California’s high-speed rail project.
“As a lifelong resident of the San Joaquin Valley, I look forward to bringing my years of experience as an editor and reporter in the region to covering a breadth of health-related issues,” Sheehan said. “From investigating water quality related to a treatment plant in Fresno and reporting on contrasts between areas of poverty and affluence relative to life expectancy, to coverage of the health and economic impacts of COVID-19 on the region, I am familiar with the challenges of health equity and access confronting the Valley. My goal is to take complex issues like these and make them relevant and understandable for our readers.”
“This Health Care Reporting Fellowship will get to the root of health care access issues in the region including our health safety net system for vulnerable communities, primary and specialty care availability and the present and future workforce realities,” Alma Martinez, CVJC’s executive director, said. “The coverage produced by this unique project will shine a light on the issues that have for many years been left out of the headlines.”
“The health care fellowship has long been a cornerstone goal of the Institute for Media and Public Trust,” said Jim Boren, the Institute’s director. “This program not only elevates in-depth reporting in the Valley’s journalism landscape but also advances our mission to strengthen local journalism. By including a student journalist in the program, we’re also fostering the next generation of reporters and enhancing the pipeline of young talent entering the field.”
“Tim has spent decades covering some of the most important stories in Fresno and the central San Joaquin Valley,” Joe Kieta, executive editor of CVJC, said. “I’m eager to work with him to provide health journalism and to partner with news organizations to distribute this important content as widely as possible.”
Contact & Additional Information
Stories produced by Sheehan will be offered for republication to Valley news organizations. For more information about the fellowship, CVJC, or Tim Sheehan’s upcoming reporting, please contact:
- Joe Kieta, Executive Editor, CVJC
Email: joe@cvlocaljournalism.org
You can also visit the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative’s website at www.cvlocaljournalism.org for the latest updates and published stories.
About the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative
Launched by the James B. McClatchy Foundation (JBMF) in 2021 as part of its sunset strategy, the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative (CVJC) is a new nonprofit infrastructure dedicated to keeping public service journalism thriving in California’s Central Valley despite the collapse of the traditional media industry over the last 15 years, and the outright demise of independent local news in many communities. JBMF is establishing this new journalism collaborative as a commitment to the Valley’s multiracial communities to fortify First Amendment press freedoms, strengthen diversity in journalism, and give visibility to perspectives often marginalized in mainstream news – core values to the Foundation’s mission and vision.
About the Institute for Media and Public Trust
The Institute for Media and Public Trust at Fresno State is committed to improving media literacy and enhancing public trust in journalism. The Institute promotes ethical standards, transparency, and accountability in media practices, and supports investigative and public service journalism. The Institute also sponsors the Journalists of Color training program that seeks to increase diversity in Valley newsrooms.