DETERMINING THE EFFECTS OF MEDIA PORTRAYALS OF ALCOHOL: GOING BEYOND SHORT TERM INFLUENCE

The presentation of alcohol by the mass media has been a richsource of research into the potential influence of media messagesupon their audience. This paper reviews the existing literaturein this field. It is noted that research has concentrated onattempts to measure the strength of media ‘effects’,employing techniques which have so far produced few fruitfulresults. The impact of media output on alcohol also has implicationsfor the evaluation of alcohol-related health education campaigns,which utilize newspapers and television as an information sourcefor members of the public. The role of the media in settingthe public and policy agenda is examined as a potentially morefertile source in evaluating media influence. A number of policyand research implications are highlighted.