Please join us on Thursday, September 14 at 5:30pm for a discussion of award-winning investigative journalist Meg Kissinger’s new book, “While You Were Out: An Intimate Portrait of Mental Illness In An Era of Secrecy.” With Sheila Coronel, Director of the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at the Columbia Journalism School, the conversation will explore the techniques, challenges and rewards of investigating the challenging topics of mental illness and suicide, and turning ones investigative chops on oneself and those held dearest. The event is open to Columbia Journalism School students and the public, and will also be livestreamed on Zoom.
“While You Were Out” begins as the personal story of one family’s struggles then opens outward, as Kissinger details how childhood tragedy catalyzed a journalism career focused on exposing our country’s flawed mental health care. Combining the intimacy of memoir with the rigor of investigative reporting, the book explores the consequences of shame, the havoc of botched public policy, and the hope offered by new treatment strategies.