NAB's Smith touts pharmacy's trusted role to Senate subcommittee

National Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Gordon Smith underscored the trust, accessibility and community presence of local pharmacies and pharmacists during his testimony on April 15 before the Senate Commerce Committee at a hearing entitled "Shot of Truth: Communicating Trusted Vaccine Information."

During his remarks, Smith described NAB’s partnership with the Reynolds Journalism Institute on a nationwide research project to identify effective vaccine education messaging – including the most reliable and trustworthy information sources; challenges to vaccine acceptance; and individuals and groups reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

He said the research demonstrated that local news and local pharmacists are among some of the most trustworthy community messengers — particularly when it comes to encouraging vaccinations.

“Our survey research also showed local news to be the most reliable and trustworthy information source … [and] our data demonstrates that the public values a trusted local source, especially the voices of local doctors, local nurses and local pharmacists.”

The research conducted by NAB and the Reynolds Journalism Institute also has served as an important resource in a larger COVID-19 vaccination initiative jointly run by NACDS and NAB to help build trust among all Americans in the overall COVID-19 vaccination effort.

Launched on Jan. 14, the collaboration between NACDS and NAB focuses on leveraging the unique community influence of local broadcasters and pharmacy spokespeople and taking transparent messaging about the COVID-19 vaccination process directly to the American people.