Free, in-person training on how to report on addiction will be held at University of Wisconsin-Madison Sept. 29

Addiction and stigma go hand-in-hand, but journalists can help change that narrative, starting with their own understanding of addiction as a medical disease and learning how to cover addiction with medical insight.

On Friday, Sept. 29, from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin will present "How to accurately and ethically report on addiction," a free, in-person training session for journalists, in room 226 of the Pyle Center. Lunch provided at no charge.

The session will feature Reporting on Addiction co-directors Jonathan Stoltman and Ashton Marra. They aim to build reporters' and editors' knowledge of addiction through a more scientific lens starting with its medical definition and looking at it as a brain disease. They'll also take a "deeper look at how addiction stigma manifests in news media and translate the science into tips for better reporting – from pitch to publication – that you can use today."

The ethics center's journalist in residence, Aneri Pattani, will also participate. Pattani is a senior correspondent with KFF Health News, a national nonprofit outlet covering U.S. health care and health policy. She is currently reporting a year-long series on how state and local governments use – or misuse – more than $50 billion in opioid-settlement money.

Register for the session here. The center urges those interested in it to sign up early; it plans to close registration on Sept. 18 but may do that earlier if it fills up.