This commentary overviews the look of health news in American print journalism and the research that suggests how health news creates influence at both the individual and policy levels. Crime and violence are argued to be public health issues, but unfortunately they are often not treated as such. There is clearly room for improvement in all areas of health news, but unfortunately the extreme stress that newspapers are under to maintain their high profit margins suggests that the resources for such improvement are unlikely to be available. Examination of the Minneapolis Star Tribune's coverage of health, crime and violence exemplifies problematic aspects.
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