Project name:
Enhancing Localization of Cancer News Stories in Black Newspapers
Project overview:
This NCI-funded center project builds upon our previous work of cancer communication in Black newspapers in which we the frequency and nature of cancer coverage in Black newspapers and created and evaluated the News Service. The News Service is the first national cancer information news service specifically for Black newspapers, and the first to use community- and race-specific data to customize cancer news stories for each different newspaper. In its initial test, the News Service significantly increased the amount of cancer coverage, improved the quality of cancer coverage and was positively associated with readers’ talking about cancer, seeking information on cancer, and increasing certain cancer prevention behaviors.
The current study builds upon and extends the successes of the News Service by partnering with the American Cancer Society (ACS) to increase localization of the News Service through ACS affiliates at the community level and to expand reach through ACS's national infrastructure. Effects of these enhancements on cancer coverage, perceptions of the importance of cancer by community opinion leaders, and reader beliefs and behaviors will be evaluated in a 3-group randomized trial with 36 Black newspapers randomly assigned to receive either: (A) Evidence-based News Service (provides race- and community-specific data in releases); (B) Evidence-based News Service + Enhanced Localization (adds local quote, photo and fact provided by the ACS affiliate in the same community as the Black paper); or (C) no intervention (Control). By understanding the degree of localization needed to produce each study outcome, we can design more efficient and sustainable cancer information systems for addressing cancer disparities.
Project purpose:
This is a multi-state experimental study that brings together a minority-serving media system, a national news service, and the American Cancer Society in a coordinated cancer communication effort to eliminate disparities among African Americans. If effective, the News Service can be adopted and disseminated by the ACS to every African American media outlet in the U.S., providing the only news source of localized cancer information targeted to an African American audience.
Specific Aims:
The specific aims of the study are:
1. Operate the News Service in partnership with ACS to generate Evidence-based releases which provide community- and race-specific data, and Evidence-based News Service + Enhanced Localization releases which add a local quote, photo and fact provided by the ACS affiliate in the same community as the Black newspaper.
2. Determine the relative effectiveness of (A) Evidence-based News Service; (B) Evidence-based News Service + Enhanced Localization; and (C) No intervention Control in a community randomized trial on newspapers’ cancer coverage, perceived importance of cancer prevention and control issues by local opinion leaders, and reader knowledge, beliefs and behaviors.
Outcomes
We hypothesize that the three study groups (A,B,C) will differ significantly at the end of the three-year intervention as follows:
I. Newspaper effects
a. Proportion of all health stories in Black newspapers addressing cancer topics: B > A > C
II. Community opinion leader effects
a. Perceived importance of cancer prevention and control issues:
B > A > C
III. Individual reader effects
a. Proportion who can name three community cancer control resources:
B > A > C
b. Perceived importance of cancer prevention and control issues:
B > A > C
c. Reported use of cancer prevention and control services: B > A > C
Dissemination:
As a dissemination research aim, we will identify organizational characteristics of Black newspapers and local ACS affiliates that predict greater adoption of the News Service news releases. If this approach is found to be effective, ACS can institutionalize the News Service so that it can be disseminated to readers of Black newspapers nationwide.
Intervention:
We will partner with the ACS’s local affiliates to develop and implement the News Service to enhance localized cancer coverage in Black newspapers. In a community randomized trial, 36 Black newspapers will be randomly assigned to receive either one of two interventions or serve as controls. Black newspapers in condition A (“Evidence-based News Service”) will receive bi-weekly cancer news releases similar to the evidence-based approach we have taken in past studies. Black newspapers in condition B (“Evidence-based News Service plus Enhanced Localization”) will also receive bi-weekly cancer news releases which will build on Evidence-based News Service releases by adding more community-level information (e.g., local quote, local photograph, and local fact) which is gathered by our partners at ACS local affiliates.
Project staff:
Douglas Luke, PI (Washington University)
Glen Cameron, Co-PI (Missouri School of Journalism)
Charlene Caburnay, Co-I/Project Manager (Washington University)
Matthew Kreuter, Co-I (Washington University)
Barbara Powe, Co-I (American Cancer Society)
Maria Len-Rios, Co-I (Missouri School of Journalism)
Elisia Cohen, Co-I (University of Kentucky)
Jon Stemmle, Cancer Communication Specialist (Missouri School of Journalism)
Erin Robinson, RA (Washington University)
Sierra Johnson, RA (Washington University)
Contact information
Charlene Caburnay, PhD, MPH
Health Communication Research Laboratory
George Warren Brown School of Social Work
Washington University in St. Louis
Campus Box 1009
700 Rosedale Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63112-1408
314.935.3703 (phone)
314.935.3757 (fax)
ccaburnay@wustl.edu
|
