April 29, 2025 – We are proud to announce that Sarah Wildman, a writer and editor of The New York Times opinion section, has won the 2024 Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting for her coverage on mental health implications for those who have witnessed or experienced pediatric end-of-life care and how medical teams failed to meet their needs.
Regarded as the most prestigious recognition for mental health reporting in America, the Award is presented annually in partnership with the National Press Foundation (NPF).
This story – “If My Dying Daughter Could Face Her Mortality, Why Couldn’t the Rest of Us?” – is told through the lens of Wildman’s personal experience of her own daughter’s cancer journey and the lack of emotional support she received at the end of her life. Wildman’s daughter, Orli Wildman Halpern, was in cancer care from age 10 through 14.
“[We] felt an enormous amount of empathy for the writer and felt she was tapping into something really difficult and important,” NPF judges said, noting that it could lead to a culture shift. “If we were to approach death differently and have honest conversations about death and balancing the human desire for truth with the need to always have hope to hold on to – these are really huge, big ideas. This piece was ambitious.”
In addition to the first-person storytelling, Wildman also interviewed experts in palliative care and spent more than a year researching and reporting. The Award carries a $10,000 prize.
Honorable Mention to North Carolina Health News
NPF judges also chose to award an honorable mention this year to Taylor Knopf from North Carolina Health News for her coverage on the understaffing at a North Carolina psychiatric hospital and how it has become a “dangerous” place for patients and employees – which hospital officials deny. The series followed questionable practices the hospital employed and was cited in a Senate committee’s investigation.
Staff treatment can be taboo to talk about, mental health reporters on the judging panel said. “She went there and did it in a really thoughtful, careful way,” they said.
The National Press Foundation and the Luv U Project established the Carolyn C. Mattingly Award in memory of the Potomac, Maryland, philanthropist and activist after her tragic death in 2014. The award recognizes exemplary journalism that illuminates and advances the understanding of mental health issues and treatments.
The National Press Foundation and The Luv u Project is grateful for the expertise of this year’s judges:
- Michelle Baruchman, a political reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Alia Dastagir, an award-winning journalist and former reporter for USA Today
- Natalia Guerrero, a senior journalist and editor at BBC Reel, the BBC’s short documentaries platform
- Deborah Wang, contributing editor at KUOW Public Radio and a fellow and advisory board member for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism
Last year, The Seattle Times won for its series untangling the complex maze of insurance coverage for mental health conditions.