Cancer Awareness: Papers in the Pink, for a Good Cause

By: Elaine Williams From Massachusetts to Minnesota, newspapers promoted Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October by printing issues on pink newsprint, affixing pink ribbons to the homepages of their Web sites, and more.

In New England, GateHouse Media newspapers printed on pink newsprint the week of Sept. 28. The Huntsville (Ala.) Times did that, too ? and took it a step further, bathing its entrance in hot pink lights and attaching a giant pink ribbon to the production building for the month of October. Its Web site boasted a "Think Pink" section with testimonials.

Some Morris Communicat-ions Co. newspapers also used pink-tinted paper, as did three suburban Philadelphia papers and Cox Ohio Media newspapers.

The GateHouse papers offered advertisers an option to include a pink ribbon on their ads for an extra fee. GateHouse, Morris, the Huntsville Times, and Cox Media are donating portions of their ad sales to breast cancer research and support organizations, local clinics and cancer centers. The GateHouse papers donated 10 cents of every newsstand sale to the American Cancer Society, while the Cox Media papers announced they were donating a portion of the proceeds from their Oct. 17 pink issue to the ACS as well.