From Tom McCoy, Nevada Director of Government Relations, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Chairman of the Nevada Cancer Coalition, and founding member of Cover Up, Nevada.
If any Las Vegas television news directors or assignment editors need to evaluate their decision to run or not run a soft news clip about a particular cancer and local efforts to bring awareness to that cancer -- they need only to consider the results of the past week. By legislative resolution, the second week in May each year is Melanoma and Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Week in Nevada. The across the channels' coverage was outstanding and brought viewers from throughout the valley to various locations. Beyond educating Las Vegans to the dangers of sun exposure and the realities of the deadliest form of cancer -- Melanoma -- the events offered skin analyses and many said they came only because of what they saw on television. As a result, many persons were advised to go see a dermatologist to have some questionable skin issues checked out. A few showed dangerous signs of Melanoma. One mother contacted a Melanoma awareness week organizer to tell him that after watching one of the TV reports she immediately took her daughter to a doctor and Melanoma was confirmed. Each Nevada broadcaster gets a license "in the public interest, convenience, and necessity." It is more than words from the early days of the FCC; it is what local broadcasters should do because they can do it better than any other form of media. The public interest truly was served in Las Vegas this past week. We continue to receive requests to do more community outreach as a result of the coverage. Thank you Las Vegas broadcasters you did yourself proud and more than likely saved suffering and lives.
