Covering health and health policy

 
 

When I was a child, my brother gave me the book “1001 Questions and Answers” to shut me up. I asked a lot of questions, interrupting my older siblings during dinner and while they watched TV. I cried if they didn’t give me a thorough answer. I was… annoying. As a journalist, I no longer cry and I try not to interrupt, but I continue to love asking questions.

I am an award-winning journalist who welcomes a challenging assignment. I can write 900-word news articles, 3,000-word features and 12,000-word explainers. My byline has appeared in a range of media outlets, including NBCNews.com, CQ Researcher, AARP, Medscape, Monitor on Psychology, Undark, Next Avenue, NPR and The New York Times, among others.

I started my journalism career in television, as the economics reporter and then the assistant managing editor of a business news program. I shifted to public radio to become NPR’s economics and business correspondent and, several years later, the first senior editor and senior producer of the weekly program “Science Friday.” I missed being on the air and returned to NPR as a freelancer and grant-funded special projects reporter before moving on to print and online work.

 

 

Fellowships & Awards

  • National Cancer Reporting Fellowship, AHCJ & NIH

  • Journalists in Aging Fellowship Program, Journalists Network on Generations

  • Comparative Effectiveness Research Fellowship, AHCJ

  • Medical Evidence Boot Camp, MIT

  • Kiplinger Fellowship, Ohio State University

  • Front Page Award (twice), The Newswomen’s Club of New York

  • Global Media Award, The Population Institute

  • Best Consumer Journalism Award, National Press Club

  • Unity Award, Lincoln University

Professional Memberships

  • Association of Health Care Journalists

  • Society of Professional Journalists

  • Journalism & Women Symposium

Contact

  • bjm@barbaramantel.com

  • in/BarbaraMantel