Download or read book Understanding and Increasing Cancer Coverage in Black Newspapers written by Charlene Anne Caburnay and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Black newspapers are a trusted voice of the local Black community, and reach large numbers of African Americans with coverage that is community- and race-specific. Despite the apparent promise of Black newspapers as a channel for cancer information, surprisingly little is known about cancer coverage in Black newspapers. This content analysis and intervention study sought to: (1) demonstrate why Black newspapers are an important channel for health communication; (2) describe health and cancer coverage in a national sample of Black and general population newspapers; and (3) show how a cancer information news service can enhance the quantity and quality of cancer coverage in Black newspapers. Before the start of the content analysis study, we generated a new tool for constructed week sampling of mass media data. A sample of six to ten constructed weeks was found to be efficient whether the time frame was one or five years. The content analysis study reviewed and coded 8,510 health and cancer-related stories published in 24 Black and 12 community-matched general population newspapers from January 2004 through December 2005. Black newspapers had a greater amount of cancer coverage that was also more localized, more prevention-oriented, contained more disparity and mobilization information, referred readers to resources, and discussed cancer risk factors. The intervention study randomly assigned half of the Black newspapers to receive customized cancer news releases. Each news release (n=24) was adopted at least once, suggesting that the news releases were considered newsworthy and relevant by Black newspapers. We were unable to identify any newspaper characteristics significantly related to adoption rate. However, release characteristics such as the inclusion of a quote and localized features (data, headline, body) were significantly related to pickup frequency. During the post-intervention period, newspapers receiving the news releases had a higher proportion of health stories that were about cancer. The potential for future growth in health communication programs designed to reach African American readers of Black newspapers is great. By accessing traditional media channels with innovative interventions such as customized news releases, we can bring about changes in cancer coverage in Black newspapers.