Citation

Rainey DY, Runyan CW. Am. J. Public Health 1992; 82(5): 745-746.

Affiliation

University of North Carolina, Department of Maternal and Child Health, Chapel Hill.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, American Public Health Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

1566958

PMCID

PMC1694136

Abstract

Newspapers have not been extensively evaluated as an injury surveillance source. We compared clippings with medical examiner records for 45 residential fire deaths and 58 drownings of children to assess extent, completeness, and accuracy of newspaper coverage. Newspapers covered 96% of the fire fatalities and 78% of the drownings and contained more information than medical examiner records on several factors, including fire cause and smoke detector presence, pool fences, warning signs, and supervision of children.