MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ, United Kingdom.
MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ, United Kingdom.
Soc Sci Med. 2014 Feb;102(100):157-64. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.11.041. Epub 2013 Nov 28.
On May 24th 2012, Scotland passed the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) Bill. Minimum unit pricing (MUP) is an intervention that raises the price of the cheapest alcohol to reduce alcohol consumption and related harms. There is a growing literature on industry's influence in policymaking and media representations of policies, but relatively little about frames used by key claim-makers in the public MUP policy debate. This study elucidates the dynamic interplay between key claim-makers to identify lessons for policy advocacy in the media in the UK and internationally. Content analysis was conducted on 262 articles from seven UK and three Scottish national newspapers between 1st May 2011 and 31st May 2012, retrieved from electronic databases. Advocates' and critics' constructions of the alcohol problem and MUP were examined. Advocates depicted the problem as primarily driven by cheap alcohol and marketing, while critics' constructions focused on youth binge drinkers and dependent drinkers. Advocates justified support by citing the intervention's targeted design, but critics denounced the policy as illegal, likely to encourage illicit trade, unsupported by evidence and likely to be ineffective, while harming the responsible majority, low-income consumers and businesses. Critics' arguments were consistent over time, and single statements often encompassed multiple rationales. This study presents advocates with several important lessons for promoting policies in the media. Firstly, it may be useful to shift focus away from young binge drinkers and heavy drinkers, towards population-level over-consumption. Secondly, advocates might focus on presenting the policy as part of a wider package of alcohol policies. Thirdly, emphasis on the success of recent public health policies could help portray the UK and Scotland as world leaders in tackling culturally embedded health and social problems through policy; highlighting past successes when presenting future policies may be a valuable tactic both within the UK and internationally.
2012 年 5 月 24 日，苏格兰通过了《酒精（最低定价）法案》。最低单位定价（MUP）是一种干预措施，旨在提高最便宜的酒精价格，以减少酒精消费和相关危害。关于行业对决策制定的影响以及媒体对政策的报道，相关文献不断增加，但关于关键主张者在公共 MUP 政策辩论中使用的框架，相关研究却相对较少。本研究阐明了关键主张者之间的动态相互作用，以确定在英国和国际媒体中进行政策宣传的经验教训。对 2011 年 5 月 1 日至 2012 年 5 月 31 日期间从七个英国和三个苏格兰全国性报纸的电子数据库中检索到的 262 篇文章进行了内容分析。对主张者和批评者对酒精问题和 MUP 的建构进行了检验。主张者将问题主要描述为廉价酒精和营销驱动的结果，而批评者的观点则侧重于青年狂欢饮酒者和依赖型饮酒者。主张者通过引用干预措施的针对性设计来为支持该政策提供正当理由，而批评者则谴责该政策违法，可能会鼓励非法贸易，没有证据支持，可能无效，同时还会伤害到负责任的大多数人、低收入消费者和企业。批评者的观点随着时间的推移保持一致，而且单个陈述通常包含多个理由。本研究为主张者在媒体中宣传政策提供了一些重要经验教训。首先，将焦点从青年狂欢饮酒者和重度饮酒者转移到人群层面的过度消费可能会有所帮助。其次，主张者可以将重点放在将该政策作为更广泛的酒精政策方案的一部分。第三，强调最近公共卫生政策的成功可能有助于将英国和苏格兰描绘成通过政策解决文化上根深蒂固的健康和社会问题的世界领导者；在提出未来政策时强调过去的成功可能是在英国和国际范围内都非常有价值的策略。
