If you’re a health journalist who has recently been laid off or bought out, you might feel lost, discouraged, angry or scared. Even if you’re gainfully employed as a staffer or freelancer, you probably experience waves of uncertainty about the profession and your place in it from time to time. We get it — and we’re here to offer not just encouragement and community, but also advice from writers, editors and recruiters with personal experience and an intimate understanding of the journalism landscape today.
Join AHCJ freelance beat leader Anna Medaris, a staff reporter-turned happy freelancer, as she leads a conversation with writers and editors who were laid off in 2023 or 2024 about their paths to sustainable and satisfying work since. The webinar also features industry experts who share where journalism jobs are now, how journalism skills can be applied to other industries, and how we all can gain some control over careers in a volatile profession.
Further reading
Anna Medaris
AHCJ Freelance Beat Leader
(She/her)
Anna Medaris is a freelance health and lifestyle journalist with 15 years of experience writing features, narratives, explainers, and news hits for publications including the Washington Post, Women’s Health, Vox, Cosmopolitan, US New & World Report, Everyday Health, AARP, Monitor on Psychology, among others. She left her last full-time role as health correspondent for Business Insider to go freelance full time in June 2023.
Anna is passionate about, and skilled in, telling sensitive human-interest stories, critiquing quirky cultural trends, and answering questions you didn’t know you had. She’s appeared on the “TODAY Show,” “Good Morning America,” Hulu’s “Age of Influence,” and many podcasts and local TV and radio stations. Anna also serves as AHCJ’s New York City chapter lead and as a writing coach through the New York Writing Room. She graduated with high honors from the University of Michigan in 2009 and later earned her master’s in interactive journalism from American University. She’s an avid swimmer who lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their basset rescue, Lou Longbody.
Chandra Turner
Founder, The Talent Fairy
Editorial recruiter and career coach
(She/her)
Chandra is the founder of The Talent Fairy, a boutique recruiting agency that connects brands with editorial leaders to elevate their storytelling and content products. When she’s not seeking out new talent, Chandra works as a career coach, helping editors, content marketers, and other content strategists find new jobs they love, or thrive in the ones they’ve got. A former editor herself (Parents, CosmoGirl, Cosmopolitan), she is a vocal advocate for editorial talent; she believes that their skills are infinitely valuable — inside and outside of traditional media. #editorsmakethebesthires
Liz Szabo
Veteran health reporter
(She/her)
Liz is a reporter with 30 years in journalism, including more than two decades covering health and science at publications such as USA TODAY, The Virginian-Pilot, and KFF Health News. An independent journalist since 2023, Liz has been covering medical news for The New York Times, NBC News, Scientific American, Medscape, AARP, and other publications.
Liz has won numerous state, local, and national journalism awards, including the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting and the National Headliner Awards’ first place prize. Her investigation of dangerous doctors for The Virginian-Pilot won two National Press Club Awards and spurred the state legislature to pass a new law to better protect patients.
Melissa Dahl
Independent health journalist
(She/her)
Melissa Dahl is an award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience on staff at publications like New York magazine, Bustle Digital Group and NBC News. She is the author of “Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness,” published by Penguin Random House in 2018, and is now working on her second book.
Rebecca Aguilar
Freelance reporter
(She/her)
Rebecca is a freelance reporter who believes that part of surviving the news business is being prepared for the unexpected. She has experienced a layoff, firing, and newsroom downsizing in her career. The Emmy Award-winning journalist remains in the news after four decades because she has found that you create your path to success by tapping into your network and what you know.
Zachary Tracer
Senior editor for business and policy, STAT
(He/him)
Zach oversees business and policy coverage at the health and medicine publication STAT. He joined STAT in June after being laid off from Business Insider in early 2024. Zach worked at Business Insider for more than five years, where he built and led the health care team. He began his journalism career at Bloomberg News, covering financial services and then the health insurance industry.
Source: Finding sustainable work you love in an era of relentless layoffs
