Making the Grade:
Is It Ready for Prime Time?

A discussion of the elements of a great story and the obstacles encountered to sell it, and a look at ways healthcare professionals and nonprofits can furnish information that makes a story a must-read.

Ideas for fostering better coverage:
* Create a health guide to services to be distributed at schools, recreation centers, banks, supermarkets, senior citizen and child-care centers, and government agencies.
* Online chat rooms, telephone hotlines, posters on health tips in the newspaper and more "how to find" stories were suggested.
* Do more stories that monitor the outcome of care in minority communities.
* Television news must vigorously reach out to poor and minority communities.
* The news business should start integrating minority concerns on health throughout its report.
* Humanize stories. If readers or TV viewers and radio listeners see someone who looks like them in the story, "they are more likely to read it."
* Improve stories on health care insurance. Make them easier to understand. Include lists, tips and ideas on how to use the health care system.