Press Releases
ATLANTA – January 24, 2011 – Award-winning former CNN medical correspondent and longtime Headline News anchor Judy Fortin has joined the American Cancer Society as national director of media relations, the Atlanta-based Society announced today. In this role, Fortin is responsible for developing and implementing earned news media relations strategies and tactics to help further position and enhance the nation’s largest voluntary health organization and the world’s leading cancer control organization as the preeminent news source and authority on cancer-related issues.
While working as a reporter in the CNN Medical Unit, Fortin filed daily consumer-related health news for CNN’s national cable television and radio networks as well as regular Internet articles and blogs. Additionally, during her 16-year tenure at Headline News, Fortin anchored network coverage of many of the biggest news stories, including the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the capture of Saddam Hussein, and the space shuttle Columbia tragedy.
For her health care reporting, Fortin received a 2009 National Broadcast Media Award from the National Marrow Donor Program. The previous year, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons honored her with a MORE Award for reporting excellence, and in 1995, Fortin also earned a National Emmy Award from the American Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, for CNN group coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing.
In 2009, Fortin became a vice president for NewsCertified Exchange, a nationwide Atlanta-based media strategy consultancy, where she helped drive senior-level business development activities and was instrumental in facilitating media relations training and strategy sessions with healthcare, business and academic executive leaders.
Fortin began her journalism career as a radio news director and anchor/reporter in Plymouth, N.H., followed by television anchor and reporter posts in Manchester, N.H., and Boston, respectively.
“As the most frequently cited and most trusted source of unbiased cancer information, the American Cancer Society has worked collaboratively with journalists for nearly a century,” said Greg Donaldson, the Society’s national vice president of corporate communications. “We are fortunate that Judy Fortin, a veteran, award-winning journalist is willing to share her talents in the continuation of our organization’s proud tradition of working with the news media to help people stay well and get well, to help them find cures and fight back.”
Fortin is a graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where she earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in government and French.
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; by helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.5 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.