CatchLight Launches First-Ever Topic-based Visual Desk Focusing on Mental Health

A three-year visual reporting initiative starting in California

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, UNITED STATES, September 24, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Visual media organization CatchLight announced the launch of its first issue-specific editorial desk: a three-year Mental Health Visual Desk. This new initiative will support and produce in-depth multimedia reporting to bring mental health into clearer view — illuminating the human stories behind policy, data, and community solutions.

An initial focus of the initiative will be understanding how California’s $6.4 billion mental health bond investment is being implemented — looking beyond policy and data to the human stories at the heart of these efforts.

The Mental Health Visual Desk will build collaborations with newsrooms, engage communities as first-person storytellers, and provide visual reporting resources to support journalists covering mental health.

Mental health is deeply intertwined with community, health care, and access to resources. By working with photojournalists and reporters who are rooted in the places they cover, this initiative seeks to surface stories too often left unseen and reframe our collective understanding of both the challenges and the possibilities of mental health care.

Confirmed photojournalists contributing to new, in-depth visual reporting projects as part of the initiative include Isadora Kosofsky, Brian Frank, and Ximena Natera. You can learn more about the first-round projects on the CatchLight website.

Stories will center on populations often overlooked in coverage, including youth, mothers and caregivers, displaced communities, immigrants, and individuals navigating the justice system. By highlighting these perspectives, the Mental Health Visual Desk aims to broaden understanding and foster more informed public conversations.

The Mental Health Visual Desk is building a partner network to amplify its visual reporting. Current partners include CalMatters, KFF Health News, The Marshall Project, and KQED.

“There's such an acute need to cover issues about mental health — and especially when it comes to accessing care,” said Kristen Go, Editor-in-Chief at CalMatters. “CatchLight is the perfect partner. Their visual journalists have an intimate knowledge of the communities they cover, and CalMatters reporting looks at mental health issues through a lens of policies and accountability. Our work combined will lead to stronger education and awareness of both the successes and challenges Californians are facing when it comes to mental health.”

"Collaborating with CatchLight and Brian [Frank] to tell stories on criminal justice and mental health will help bring greater awareness to these critical issues," said Raghu Vadarevu, senior editor responsible for The Marshall Project’s visual journalism and new storytelling initiatives.

"It’s important for people struggling with mental health to know that they are not alone," said Ki Sung, Managing Editor of Digital News at KQED. "This important project will help people connect to the experiences of others and hopefully feel better understood."

The initiative’s first open call for visual support on mental health reporting projects is now open for California-based local newsrooms. Applications are free and open through September 30, 2025.

Myrtille Beauvert
Sisters Communications for CatchLight
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