NCJ Number
116836
Date Published
1988
Length
73 pages
Annotation
This document examines literature studying the relationship between alcohol and the mass media, focusing on how alcohol is portrayed in advertising, how alcohol education is carried out, how alcohol use is shown in dramatic and entertainment presentations, and how the mass media aid in the formulation of alcohol use policy.
Abstract
The regulation of alcohol advertising in America, Canada, and Western Europe is discussed, and the results achieved by alcohol education that relies on the mass media are assessed. The role of alcohol in American and European television situation comedies and dramas is examined, as is the function of the mass media in formulating alcohol control policy. The study concludes that more stringent regulation of alcohol advertising would be appropriate, that policymakers should improve mass media efforts to provide alcohol education, that the frequent portrayal of alcohol and drinking in the mass media fails to note the seriousness of alcohol addiction, and that proponents of alcohol regulation must make their case effectively in the public forum. 223 footnotes.