Despite the rapid pace of scientific discovery in recent decades, the majority of Americans have limited knowledge of science. To maintain America's leadership role in science and allow continuing progress, the general public must value scientific research. To promote these objectives, we propose to reach and educate those members of the public who don't typically seek out science programs, through a medium they already use: local television news broadcasts. We will research, produce and distribute an annual series of 10 news stories plus collateral in-depth Web material to stations across America, for use as a week-long special health/science feature series or a month-long set of linked reports. Television stations are airing more local news than ever, with reduced or stagnant budgets; they are increasingly seeking Iow cost outside-produced programming. We expect these news stories to be particularly attractive to stations in medium and small markets (defined metropolitan and rural areas) since unlike stations in large markets such as New York and Chicago, they are unlikely to employ reporters or producers who have specialized training in health and science. Our first-year goal is to have the stories on the air in at least 50 of the nation's 210 media markets. To extend the reach of our project and the uses of our educational materials, we will collaborate with the National Press Foundation to develop, publicize and distribute free Web-based education programs for general-assignment reporters (from all media) on topics compatible with our news stories. Finally, to advance the field of science/health education, we will partner with the University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communication, a leader in the field of health journalism, to evaluate the project and disseminate our findings. The goal of our project is to increase scientific literacy, particularly as it relates to drug abuse and addiction, by researching, producing and distributing innovative educational programs to local news viewers and to journalists, through existing but largely untapped distribution channels.
