In-depth Journalism Coverage of Health Issues in Eastern Kentucky

We (the Institute for Rural Journalism) will develop in-depth coverage of the signi?cant health issues currently faced by residents of Eastern Kentucky. The coverage will be modeled after a previous in-depth reporting project sponsored by the Institute for Rural Journalism (IRJ) that focused on other issues of importance in the region (Ex. recovery from the ?ooding, need for more affordable housing). This coverage will include what’s known as “solutions-based journalism,” which goes beyond the usual reporting on important issues and includes a focus on examples of what’s working – both in the region and in other similar places. We will use IRJ''s Kentucky Health News statewide service and other means to distribute the coverage to news outlets in Kentucky as well as posting it online and sharing it through our newsletters. As we do with all KHN stories, we will make these stories available for free to all news outlets and other interested parties. As IRJ and other organizations have shown, news coverage in Kentucky has diminished greatly in recent years as media organizations have reduced staffing and cut the amount of time and space they dedicate to non-deadline stories. As a result, many important health issues now go uncovered, particularly in rural areas and places such as Eastern Kentucky. Providing these stories to media outlets for free will enable local and statewide news outlets to offer coverage to their readers, listeners and viewers that they would not have produced otherwise.