Cancer coverage in newspapers serving large and small communities in Ontario

Mass media is a common source of health1 and cancer2,3 information. While television is a pervasive news source, newspapers maintain an important role in informing the public. A 1998 NADBank survey found that 60% of Canadian adults had read a daily newspaper the day before, and 83% had read a daily newspaper in the previous week.4 Newspapers have an advantage over television news because they allow more discussion of issues, while television is usually limited to <60 second spots.5 Furthermore, newspaper presentations of a news story are better remembered than radio, television or computer presentations, across three measures of recall.6 An additional advantage of newspapers is that …