Researchers from Grady College’s Cox Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research studied the impact of the 2006 Gnat Line News Briefing on health and medical story ideation in four Black Belt news organizations. Results were presented at the July 2007 meeting of the International Association for Media and Communication Research in Paris, France. Click here to read the conference presentation.

The impact of the 2007 Gnat Line News Briefing was analyzed by the Knight Chair and Opinion Research Solutions, LLC. The evaluation focused on 17 participating Black Belt news organizations and 15 similar print and broadcast outlets selected as controls. Click here to read the impact study.

The Knight Chair is one of two dozen investigators for the new Southern Center on Communication, Health, and Poverty. Led by Professor Vicki Freimuth, the center’s research will be used to devise strategies for reducing health disparities between rich and poor people in the Black Belt. Thomas is co-director of Core B, the portion of the project that will help public health professionals communicate more effectively with minority communities about smoking and substance abuse, violence, and genetic predispositions to disease. She is also a member of Core C, which will disseminate the study’s research findings to media outlets, stakeholders, and opinion leaders.