TY - JOUR
T1 - 'Something's brewing'
T2 - The changing trends in alcohol coverage in Australian newspapers 2000-2011
AU - Azar, Denise
AU - White, Victoria
AU - Bland, Stephanie
AU - Livingston, Michael
AU - Room, Robin
AU - Chikritzhs, Tanya
AU - Durkin, Sarah
AU - Gilmore, William
AU - Wakefield, Melanie
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding — This study was supported by a National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnerships Grant #1037104 with VicHealth and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.
Funding Information:
Acknowledgements — M.W. was supported by a National Health & Medical Research Centre Fellowship award. M.L. was supported by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE). R.R. was supported by the Victorian Department of Health and FARE. T.C. was supported by a National Health & Medical Research Centre Career Development Fellowship. We acknowledge Bhavani Sridharan and Steven Bowe for their assistance with data management.
PY - 2014/5
Y1 - 2014/5
N2 - Aims: The portrayal of alcohol in the news media, including newspapers, plays an important role in influencing societal norms and setting public agendas. We present the first large-scale examination of news coverage of alcohol-related issues in Australian newspapers. Method: Content analysis was performed on a sample of alcohol-related newspaper articles (n = 4217) published across Australia from 2000 to 2011. Articles were coded for type, theme, prominence, topic slant, opinion slant and sources/spokesperson. Results: Across the period, the most common themes were promotion (21%), drink-driving (16%) and restrictions/policy (16%). Themes of restrictions/policy and responsible beverage services became more common over time. Promotion and business-related articles significantly declined over time. Overall, the topic slant of the majority of news related articles disapproved of alcohol use. Disapproval increased over time while approval of alcohol use decreased. While the slant of opinion pieces was predominantly approving of alcohol, this decreased over time. Presence of an alcohol industry representative in articles declined over time. Conclusion: The presentation of alcohol use in Australian newspapers became more disapproving over time, which may suggest that harmful alcohol use has become less acceptable among the broader Australian community.
AB - Aims: The portrayal of alcohol in the news media, including newspapers, plays an important role in influencing societal norms and setting public agendas. We present the first large-scale examination of news coverage of alcohol-related issues in Australian newspapers. Method: Content analysis was performed on a sample of alcohol-related newspaper articles (n = 4217) published across Australia from 2000 to 2011. Articles were coded for type, theme, prominence, topic slant, opinion slant and sources/spokesperson. Results: Across the period, the most common themes were promotion (21%), drink-driving (16%) and restrictions/policy (16%). Themes of restrictions/policy and responsible beverage services became more common over time. Promotion and business-related articles significantly declined over time. Overall, the topic slant of the majority of news related articles disapproved of alcohol use. Disapproval increased over time while approval of alcohol use decreased. While the slant of opinion pieces was predominantly approving of alcohol, this decreased over time. Presence of an alcohol industry representative in articles declined over time. Conclusion: The presentation of alcohol use in Australian newspapers became more disapproving over time, which may suggest that harmful alcohol use has become less acceptable among the broader Australian community.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84899819787&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/alcalc/agt139
DO - 10.1093/alcalc/agt139
M3 - Article
C2 - 24005573
AN - SCOPUS:84899819787
SN - 0735-0414
VL - 49
SP - 336
EP - 342
JO - Alcohol and Alcoholism
JF - Alcohol and Alcoholism
IS - 3
ER -
