MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Department of Government, University of Essex; and School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Addiction. 2019 Apr;114(4):741-753. doi: 10.1111/add.14514. Epub 2019 Jan 4.
Minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol was introduced in Scotland on 1 May 2018, and is now on the policy agenda in other devolved administrations and at Westminster. Previous research has explored the arguments deployed for and against MUP, but the congruence between actors in the MUP debate has not been sufficiently examined. This study identified and mapped the discourse coalitions that emerged in the UK MUP debate through an analysis of actors' use of arguments in media coverage of the policy debates.
A sample of print media coverage of MUP was obtained from the LexisNexis newspaper database. The resulting sample was imported into discourse network analysis (DNA) software for coding and subsequent visualization of actor networks.
United Kingdom.
A total of 348 articles from eight UK-wide and three Scottish newspapers from an 18-month period, ending in November 2012, were analysed.
Actors' arguments were coded to generate structured data for conversion into a weighted actor network where ties represent similarities among actors in terms of arguments in support of or opposition to MUP.
Two polarized discourse coalitions, Opponents and Proponents of MUP, emerged in media coverage. The Proponents coalition consisted mainly of health advocacy groups, charities, political parties and academic institutions. In the Opponents coalition, the networks were formed of key alcohol manufacturers and economic think-tanks. While producer organizations were central to the Opponents coalition, some commercial actors were more favourable to MUP, highlighting divisions within the industry overall.
Media coverage of minimum unit pricing (MUP) in Scotland from June 2011 to November 2012 showed alignment between the policy positions of (1) alcohol producers and think-tanks opposed to MUP; and (2) public health advocates and health charities in favour of the policy. Some alcohol industry actors were supportive of MUP indicating divisions among the industry. Discourse network analysis may be usefully applied to study other highly contested policy issues in health and beyond.
2018 年 5 月 1 日，苏格兰开始实行酒精最低单位定价（MUP），该政策目前也在其他权力下放地区和英国威斯敏斯特政府的政策议程上。此前的研究探讨了支持和反对 MUP 的论点，但尚未充分研究 MUP 辩论中的参与者之间的一致性。本研究通过分析媒体对政策辩论的报道中参与者使用的论点，确定并绘制了英国 MUP 辩论中出现的话语联盟。
从 LexisNexis 报纸数据库中获取了 MUP 的印刷媒体报道样本。将所得样本导入话语网络分析（DNA）软件，对参与者网络进行编码和后续可视化。
英国。
对 2012 年 11 月前 18 个月期间来自英国全国 8 家报纸和苏格兰 3 家报纸的 348 篇文章进行了分析。
对参与者的论点进行编码，生成结构化数据，以转换为加权参与者网络，其中关系代表支持或反对 MUP 的参与者之间在论点上的相似性。
在媒体报道中出现了两个两极分化的话语联盟，即 MUP 的反对者和支持者。MUP 的支持者联盟主要由健康倡导团体、慈善机构、政党和学术机构组成。在反对者联盟中，网络由主要的酒精制造商和经济智库组成。虽然生产商组织是反对者联盟的核心，但一些商业参与者对 MUP 更为有利，这突显了整个行业的分歧。
2011 年 6 月至 2012 年 11 月期间，苏格兰对 MUP 的媒体报道显示，（1）反对 MUP 的酒精生产商和智库与（2）支持 MUP 的公共卫生倡导者和健康慈善机构之间的政策立场一致。一些酒精行业参与者支持 MUP，表明该行业存在分歧。话语网络分析可用于研究健康和其他领域的其他极具争议性的政策问题。
