A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - A CASE-STUDY OF NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE ON HEALTH-POLICY DEVELOPMENT

This case study of an Alabama newspaper's series on infant mortality a nd of subsequent changes in related state health services shows that t he series helped increase public support for policy changes to reduce infant mortality and created pressure on the governor and legislators to make those changes. Factors that seem to have affected the series' influence include expert agreement on solutions, the existence of supp ortive private citizen groups and public officials, Alabama's politica l situation, the newspaper's location in the capitol city, widespread distribution of series reprints, editorial and reporting follow-ups, a nd publicity when the series won a Pulitzer Prize.