Are newspapers a viable source for intentional injury surveillance data

This study sought to determine the accuracy of previous reports claiming that newspaper accounts were a reliable adjunct to surveillance of the prevalence of unintentional injury. Data were collected through an in-depth analysis of every issue of the two largest daily newspapers published in Alabama in 1991. Published accounts of 422 assaults homicides suicides and rapes occurring in Jefferson County were compared with data available from the coroners office and the justice system. It was found that the newspapers underreported cases of suicide rape and assaults. While 88% of the assaults covered in the newspapers involved firearms firearms were actually used in only 23% of all assaults in the county. While 18% of homicides and 20% of assaults occurred with knives the newspapers only reported 7% and 6% of these incidences respectively. It was concluded that editorial policy leads to exclusion of much information of potential value for injury surveillance purposes and newspapers are neither a valid nor a reliable data source for injury surveillance.