Background: Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the United States. Although people of color are at higher risk, news media that focus on people of color have not been studied regarding the disease. The purpose of this study was to explore how newspapers that cater to people of color covered prostate cancer risk factors, screening and treatment in New York State to help identify gaps and opportunities for prostate cancer communication.

Methods: Articles published in English up to December 31st, 2022 were searched from Ethnic NewsWatch database, which has newspapers of people of color, using the search terms (prostate) AND (cancer). Out of 107 articles limited to New York State, 38 were eligible. Two coders analyzed the contents independently, with Cohen’s inter-rater reliability scores ranging from 0.3 to 1. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to analyze frequencies and associations, respectively using SPSS version 27.

Results: Of the 38 articles, 26 mentioned risk factors, 18 mentioned screening or diagnosis, 13 highlighted awareness or education but only 6 mentioned treatment. October had the most articles (8) whereas September, the month of prostate cancer awareness, had only 1. There was a statistically significant difference between the publication month and mentioning risk factors (p=0.024) but not other key themes.

Conclusion: Newspapers that reach people of color are not publishing enough articles on prostate cancer. Public health practitioners in New York state should increase efforts to reach newspapers of people of color, especially during September of every year.