Sabriya Rice, a multimedia journalist with more than 15 years of experience in health reporting, has been named the new Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism at Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“We’re thrilled to add a journalist of Sabriya’s caliber to Grady College,” said Charles N. Davis, dean of Grady College. “She’s worked as a health and medical reporter in newspapers, magazines, in digital and in broadcasting—a true rarity. Her career path is reflective of the multiplatform, digital-first nature of the field these days, so we’re incredibly excited for what Sabriya brings straight from the profession to academia.”
Rice is a seasoned reporter covering health care, science and medicine. For the past two years, she has worked as the business of health care reporter for the Dallas Morning News, writing about trends in the health care industry. She also served as the quality and safety reporter for Modern Healthcare Magazine for three years. Visual storytelling and graphics are important aspects of her multimedia features.
In addition to reporting, Rice has been a director of media relations for the American Cancer Society and a writer/producer for CNN, working with CNNHealth.com, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Elizabeth Cohen. Her focus on health care storytelling began with a series of jobs as producer and on-air reporter for Quest Network Blue Zones, a project that told stories of longevity and high life expectancy in international locations including Costa Rica and Greece.
The Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism is an endowed chair funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which supports journalistic, artistic and community endeavors. It is part of a national network of Knight Chairs in Journalism.
“Ensuring the next generation of journalists are equipped with the digital skills and know-how to address the important topics of our time is vital to ensuring a strong future for journalism,” said Jennifer Preston, Knight Foundation vice president for journalism. “The dynamic experience Sabriya brings to this position will help Grady students meet this goal.”
Currently in its 13th year, the Knight Chair directs Grady’s Health and Medical Journalism master’s degree program, teaching students how to cover health and medicine through a variety of different storytelling platforms.
“Health care is a high-stakes industry, and well-trained health and medical journalists play a crucial role in helping the public to sift through increasingly complex amounts of information,” Rice said of the responsibilities her new role holds. “The demand is high as the nation continues to undergo major shifts in how health care is funded, as advances bring about new understanding of disease states and treatment, and as globalization facilitates the spread of emerging conditions. I look forward to helping prepare the next generation of health care communicators to ask tough questions, to know where to access data and to think creatively to reach the intended audience via multiple platforms.”
In addition to her new academic responsibilities, Rice also serves on the board of the Association of Health Care Journalists.
She has been the recipient of several fellowships including the Mayo Clinic-Walter Cronkite Medical Journalism Fellowship awarded this past May.
Rice has a Bachelor of Arts degree in film and television from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in communication studies from the University of Miami.
The Knight Chair was formerly held by Patricia Thomas, who retired in 2017. Knight Foundation has endowed more than two dozen chairs at leading universities to help educate the next generation of journalists, encourage classroom innovation, foster new technology and techniques, and contribute thought leadership to academia and the news industry alike.
