Black newspapers hold promise for helping to eliminate cancer disparities, according to a study at the Brown School's Health Communication Research Laboratory. That’s because Black newspapers publish more cancer stories per issue than general audience newspapers, and their stories are more likely to contain local information, include calls to action for readers and refer their audience to cancer information resources, says Charlene A. Caburnay, Ph.D., first author of the study and research assistant professor at the Brown School.

“African-Americans suffer from cancer at a higher rate than other groups,” Caburnay says. “Based on our findings, Black newspapers seem to be well-positioned to help eliminate these disparities by increasing cancer awareness, prevention and screening among African-Americans.”

The study was published in a recent issue of Ethnicity & Disease. Conducted along with researchers at the University of Kentucky and the University of Missouri-Columbia, the study examined how Black newspapers report cancer information and how their readers perceive the coverage. It is the first national study of its kind.

The researchers reviewed all health and cancer-related stories published in 24 Black weekly newspapers and 12 community-matched general audience daily newspapers for two years.

Health-related stories were those pertaining to health promotion, wellness, disease prevention, well-being, lifestyle and any mental, physical or spiritual aspects of health. Cancer-related stories contained cancer key words such as cancer, tumor and lump in the headline or first two paragraphs.

Reviewers read a total of 2,190 weekly Black newspaper issues and 4,364 daily general audience newspapers. Of these, 63.5 percent of Black newspaper issues contained at least one health story, compared to 29.8 percent of general audience newspaper issues.

Black newspapers contained a total of 4,158 health stories, and general audience newspapers contained 4,352 health stories. Of these, 14.4 percent of those in Black newspapers were cancer-related, compared to 10.4 percent of stories in general audience newspapers.

Cancer stories in Black newspapers were significantly longer than those in general audience newspapers and more likely to have a local angle. There were no differences by newspaper type in story location or presence of a visual.

In addition, cancer stories in Black newspapers were more likely to include information on racial disparities, personal mobilization and community mobilization. They also were more likely to address prevention, screening and early detection, and to refer readers to resources.

Breast and prostate cancers were the leading cancers covered in both types of newspapers, with prostate cancer as the most prevalent of all cancer stories in Black newspapers.

Researchers also determined that Black newspapers are trusted more in Black communities than general audience newspapers or other media sources. And after doctors or other healthcare professionals, Black newspapers were the most frequently cited media source respondents reported turning to for health or medical information.

“Findings from this study suggest Black newspapers may be an important way to deliver cancer information to African-American populations,” says co-author Matthew Kreuter, Ph.D., director of the Health Communication Research Laboratory.