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 For Immediate Release

Creative Commons content helps keep the evidence in health media coverage

EvidenceNetwork.ca delivers non-partisan expertise, evidence

(05/16/12 Winnipeg) – EvidenceNetwork.ca, a non-partisan research network designed to help journalists covering health policy issues in Canada, has placed a Creative Commons license on all of their original commentary content, making it free-of-charge for media and non-profit organizations to use widely in their own publications.

More than 70 commentaries or opinion-editorials on pressing health policy issues, such as our aging population, health care costs and spending, and health care system sustainability are represented in the collection that is now easily available for re-use from the EvidenceNetwork.ca website.  

Each article has been labeled with a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License, which means both for-profit and non-profit ventures are able to republish the material without seeking permission, so long as the author and organization name is credited, and there are no changes made to the article.  

EvidenceNetwork.ca was created under the direction of Dr. Noralou Roos, the Founding Director of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, and Dr. Sharon Manson Singer, former Deputy Minister of Health in BC, and Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University, with a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Manitoba Health Research Council (MHRC).  Additional support was provided by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF).

“Health care is a top-of-mind issue for Canadians and a complex and demanding subject to cover.  We’ve worked closely with both Canada’s leading health experts and Canada’s leading journalists to create materials that present the evidence in a timely, compelling and balanced fashion, says Dr. Roos.  “That doesn’t mean our articles are free of opinion, but that the opinions expressed therein are based first on evidence, and not ideology,” adds Roos.  “Now that information can be reprinted and redistributed with ease.”   

The Commentaries are organized by topic and can be found at: http://evidencenetwork.ca/our-commentaries  Each section offers multiple articles exploring the issue from a variety of angles, and authored by one of the more than 60 experts across Canada, and internationally, who work with EvidenceNetwork.ca.  On each article page there is also a button for easy downloading (it creates a PDF) or an easy print option.

“We have successfully published more than 180 articles in the mainstream media across the country since our inception slightly more than a year ago,” says Dr. Sharon Manson Singer.  “Getting the evidence out there is our objective, and embracing the Creative Commons ‘culture of sharing’ knowledge and information freely seemed like the right way to promote health policy evidence further afield.”

EvidenceNetwork.ca also offers background papers and a database of leading health experts with their contact information, including email and phone numbers, that allows journalists to quickly connect with health experts as they report on breaking policy stories.  

For media interviews or more information, contact:

Kathleen O’Grady, 613.897.9276

kathleen54@rogers.com

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.