Millions of Americans Get a Taste of We Can!® Thanks to Wave of Coast–to–Coast and Online Coverage

Posted June 14‚ 2010

Did you happen to open up your community newspaper or log in online and read a story about how pinching pennies with fast food could cost your family more, health–wise, in the long run? Or, did you catch a story on how you could revitalize your New Year's resolution to stay at a healthy weight, months later?

If so, that means you're one of some 7.75 million potential newspaper readers or 125 million visitors to Web sites exposed to two We Can! stories on those topics. That's nearly 133 million people hearing about the program this spring alone!

And that's just as of May 11. On that date in mid–May, the numbers showed that those stories had been used 272 times in print publications (newspapers, shoppers, etc.) in 21 different states, and if the trend continues there will be many more.

The stories ran in both major media markets and smaller places, all across the map, connecting New York, NY, to Davenport, IA, to Miami, FL, to Seattle, WA, to Philadelphia, PA, to Los Angeles, CA, to Dallas, TX, and everything in between.

"The continued use of these two stories by newspapers across the U.S., and online sites, to educate their readers and visitors shows the great interest in providing families and others with science–based tips and tools to help all Americans stay at a healthy weight," said We Can! program coordinator Karen Donato. "Our program looks forward to continuing to provide that guidance, and to reaching an even greater number of families over the course of the summer and fall."

You too can help build the wave of people receiving We Can! messages, making sure awareness of and enthusiasm for our program sweeps from coast–to–coast and beyond.

All you need to do is visit the resources page of the We Can! Web site, download your own copy of any one of a number of ready–made articles (a.k.a. matte articles), and share them with your friends, family, coworkers, and—most importantly—your local media.

If you're not quite sure how to ask your local newspaper or blogger to run a story from the National Institutes of Health, check out and download this handy guide in PDF format (1.6 MB) for pointers.

We hope that you'll join us in this effort, and look forward to hearing about your success at the local level if you do.

 

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