Howse Eloise, Watts Christina, McGill Bronwyn, Kite James, Rowbotham Samantha, Hawe Penelope, Bauman Adrian, Freeman Becky
The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre, Sax Institute, Sydney, Australia.
Prevention Research Collaboration, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Drug Alcohol Rev. 2022 Mar;41(3):561-574. doi: 10.1111/dar.13376. Epub 2021 Sep 22.
News media representation of preventive health policies can influence public discussion and political decision making, impacting policy implementation and sustainability. This study analysed news media coverage of the contested 'last drinks' alcohol laws in Sydney, Australia, to understand the arguments made by different 'actors' (stakeholders) regarding the laws and provide insights on how preventive health policies are positioned within media discourse.
We identified print and online news media articles discussing the laws from 2014 to 2020. Content analysis was used to quantify the arguments made to justify support or opposition to the laws.
A total of 445 articles were included for analysis. Four hundred and thirty-five actors were identified, with industry actors mentioned most (213 times) followed by health actors (136 times). There were more quotes from opponents of the laws compared to supporters of the laws (57% vs. 25%). The proportion of media mentions reduced for supporters (34% in 2014 to 14% in 2020) while mentions increased for opponents (47% in 2014 to 73% in 2020). Supporters used arguments about crime, safety and health. Opponents of the laws focused on issues such as Sydney's 'night time economy' and negative impacts of the laws.
Opponents of the laws strategically used the media to influence public debate. Opponents, including industry actors, also ignored the health impacts of alcohol and utilised campaign groups to advocate against the laws. These findings have implications for how governments and advocates communicate and build support for contested preventive health policies.
新闻媒体对预防性健康政策的报道会影响公众讨论和政治决策，进而影响政策的实施和可持续性。本研究分析了澳大利亚悉尼备受争议的“最后一杯”酒类法律的新闻媒体报道，以了解不同“行为者”（利益相关者）就这些法律提出的论点，并深入了解预防性健康政策在媒体话语中的定位。
我们确定了2014年至2020年期间讨论这些法律的印刷和在线新闻媒体文章。采用内容分析法来量化为支持或反对这些法律而提出的论点。
总共纳入445篇文章进行分析。共识别出435个行为者，其中行业行为者被提及最多（213次），其次是健康行为者（136次）。与法律支持者相比，反对者的引述更多（57%对25%）。媒体提及支持者的比例有所下降（从2014年的34%降至2020年的14%），而提及反对者的比例则有所上升（从2014年的47%升至2020年的73%）。支持者使用了关于犯罪、安全和健康的论点。法律反对者则关注悉尼的“夜间经济”等问题以及这些法律的负面影响。
法律反对者策略性地利用媒体来影响公众辩论。包括行业行为者在内的反对者还忽视了酒精对健康的影响，并利用竞选团体来反对这些法律。这些发现对政府和倡导者如何就备受争议的预防性健康政策进行沟通并争取支持具有启示意义。
