Torie Bosch, the editor of First Opinion at STAT News, writes about why the health care site does not cover health awareness days/weeks/months.
Bosch writes, “We probably do need to pay more attention to colorectal cancer. But an article arguing that, timed to a month arguing that, is not compelling reading for the average STAT audience member.
“This is in keeping with STAT’s own policy of not covering such awareness days/weeks/months, an approach that dates back to the publication’s early days. When I checked with managing editors Jason Ukman and Gideon Gil, who have both been at STAT from the start, they told me that original thinking was that STAT is a news site, and such occasions are not news. Fundamentally, these days/weeks/months are about marketing.
“Sometimes it’s hard to turn down these pieces! I too want to raise awareness. But awareness alone is very rarely a compelling argument.”
Read more here.
