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Media Advocacy and Underage Drinking Policies: A Study of Louisiana News Media From 1994 Through 2003

School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jean C. Witson, MS

Diabetes Institute for Immunology and Transplantation at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota

David P. Fan, PhD

Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Alexander C. Wagenaar, PhD

College of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Health Policy Research at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida

The communications literature firmly establishes the significant role of media advocacy in setting public agenda and influencing the direction of public opinion on social issues. Recent public health campaigns embrace media advocacy as an integral part of efforts to change public health policies, yet further studies are needed on the best strategies to promote legislative action. This article examines press coverage in the Baton Rouge Advocate and the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspapers and Louisiana State legislation pertaining to underage drinking from January 1994 to June 2003 and focuses on evidence of media priming and framing of underage drinking and four related legislative policies. High press coverage of alcohol bills during the legislative process was associated with defeated legislation, whereas little or no press coverage was associated with bills successfully passed into law. The authors conclude that more work is needed to understand how media advocacy strategies may hinder enactment of bills.

Key Words: media advocacy • policy advocacy • underage drinking • policies • time trends

Health Promotion Practice, Vol. 6, No. 3, 246-257 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1524839905276079


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