Media advocacy in community prevention: news as a means to advance policy change

TLDR

Media advocacy in the Community Trials Project strategically uses news media to advance social or public policy initiatives. The study presents a conceptual model that guided analyses of media advocacy. Using this model, the authors documented increased alcohol‑related news coverage, compared changes in perceived risk of arrest after drinking and driving, and assessed community awareness of enforcement efforts relative to traditional public information campaigns. Training in media advocacy increased coverage across print and television, focused public attention on prevention issues, reached both audiences, and proved more effective than paid public information campaigns in raising awareness of alcohol problems.

Abstract

Media advocacy within the Community Trials Project refers to the strategic use of news media to advance a social or public policy initiative. First, this paper presents a conceptual model that guided analyses of media advocacy. Secondly, it documents increases in alcohol-related news coverage. Thirdly, it compares changes in perceived risk of arrest after drinking and driving that can be linked to increased DUI news coverage. Fourthly, it examines community awareness of enforcement efforts in terms of both media advocacy efforts and traditional public information campaigns. Results indicate that: (1) training in media advocacy can increase coverage of news events generated by local community members including volunteers, (2) increased news coverage can be generated for both electronic (television) and print media, (3) increased news coverage did focus public attention on specific issues in support of prevention components, (4) while there are differential audiences/readers for the print (newspaper) and electronic (TV) media, both audiences are affected and (5) media advocacy can be more effective than a paid public information campaign in increasing public awareness of alcohol issues.