Truth and Consequences: Youth Smoking in Kentucky

Louisville, KY, 2000

Public Radio Partnership's WFPL, part of a network of three Kentucky stations committed to developing relationships with other organizations and institutions in order to provide more in-depth and focused programming, collaborated with UofL Health Care and the Kentucky Cancer Program (KCP) around reducing youth substance
abuse. KCP brought to the collaboration two partners of its own: the Health Promotions School of Excellence (HPSE) and the Louisville minor league baseball team—the Riverbats.

Programming focused on a series of stories that are aired on Morning Edition and call-in discussions on WFPL's State of Affairs. Selections from these broadcasts were compiled for air during the lunchtime programming block, which is dedicated to local programming.
In addition, a town hall forum was produced and broadcast live from a tobacco-growing community in April 2001, bringing together representatives from state government, agriculture, the tobacco industry, and health care service organizations, along with young people, to discuss how to address youth smoking without adversely affecting Kentucky's rural economy. The program was incorporated into a documentary, which coincided with the culminating event of the outreach component.

Outreach began with a presentation to teachers at 17 HPSE schools about the Tobacco Free Students project. Each school was invited to submit a proposal as to how students could combat tobacco use in schools; seven schools were awarded $1,000 to implement these ideas. Winning schools were recognized at a home game of the Louisville Riverbats in May 2001. Minor league baseball has banned tobacco use by players and coaches at its games, so the Riverbats' commitment to this project added a significant layer of community involvement.

UofL Health Care developed a Web site for the project, providing links to partner Web sites and national sites addressing tobacco issues, and featuring audio clips, school projects, and photo updates. UofL Health Care also coordinated marketing and media relations.

This project combined the strengths of all partners: WFPL produced programming that targeted its core audience, community leaders and policymakers; KCP supplied grass-roots activism and its national resource of cancer experts and statistical studies; and UofL Health Care's community commitment and network of television and print media connections ensured that the project reached beyond WFPL's core audience. These organizations, together with the HPSE schools and the Riverbats, presented a
formidable combination of community resources to address an issue with long-term ramifications for a state in which tobacco is part of the social fabric.

Contact Information

Public Radio Partnership/Public Radio Partnership/WFPL-FM
Kathi Ellis, Community Relations Manager
Tel: 502-814-6534

University of Louisville Hospital
Connie Sorrell, Director
Tel: 502-852-6318