181562 News coverage of Diva DUIs: Problematic social modeling or teachable moments?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Katherine Clegg Smith, PhD , Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Denise A. Twum , Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Andrea C. Gielen, ScD, ScM , Health, Behavior & Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Introduction: The recent spate of highly publicized drinking and driving arrests involving young female celebrities is worthy of public health attention. Media coverage serves both as a reflection of social attitudes towards drinking and driving, and as a powerful source of behavioral modeling for young people around alcohol use. Media are key to socialization around alcohol, including the development of attitudes and beliefs, as well as being a source of education as to the consequences of alcohol consumption. Do these highly newsworthy DUI incidents serve as ‘teachable moments'?

Methods: We conducted ethnographic content analysis of news in the months following the DUI arrests of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie and Michelle Rodriguez. We include both ‘hard' and ‘soft' news media, and utilized Lexis Nexis and the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive to collect news stories from The New York Times, Time Magazine and People Magazine as well as ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Fox.

Results: We have completed data collection. Our dataset includes 146 relevant print articles and 16 TV stories. All print articles have been coded, and TV coding is ongoing.

Discussion: We will compare news coverage between news outlets and discuss the public health, addiction or ‘bad girl' framing of the DUI events. Our analysis of the news images allows us to consider the possible glamorization of drinking and driving. Given high DUI rates among young people, might it ever be the case that the news coverage of these ‘role models' could help to shift social norms?

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss the importance of monitoring news coverage of public health issues 2. Apply framing theory to a range of news media coverage of celebrity DUI arrests 3. Assess the possibility for news coverage of highly publicized events to serve as ‘teachable moments’ pertaining to drinking and driving

Keywords: Alcohol, Media

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have led the analysis described
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Current Issues in Alcohol: Translating the Research
See more of: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs