The media plays a large role in shaping how many youth think and behave. Many
of the messages kids receive from television, music, magazines, billboards, and
the Internet glamorize drug, alcohol, and tobacco use. Yet, the media can be
used to encourage positive behaviors as well. Four communications strategies—public
education, social marketing, media advocacy, and media literacy—can be
used to influence community norms, increase public awareness, and attract community
support for a variety of prevention issues. These strategies are most effective
when coupled with more potent prevention approaches, like policy, enforcement,
education, and skill building.
Of the four communications strategies, public education is probably the most
common. Some familiar public education slogans include "Friends don't
let friends drive drunk" and "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." The
goal of public education is to increase knowledge and awareness of a particular
health issue. This awareness can often support the development and success
of programs and policies that address the problem. Public education can also
be an effective way to increase awareness about a new or existing law, publicize
a community-based program, and reinforce instruction taught in schools or
community-based organizations.
Multimedia prevention campaigns typically combine
public service announcements on television and radio with billboards
and posters. Research shows that these campaigns are often the
most cost-effective way to reach large groups of people. However,
they’re not an effective way to change individual behavior.1
In recent years, prevention professionals have become more strategic
in their communications goals and savvier in their approach to
using media. Through
techniques known as social marketing, practitioners use advertising principles
to change social norms and promote healthy behaviors. Like public education,
social marketing uses a variety of media channels to provide a message to targeted
groups of individuals. Yet, social marketing campaigns do more than just provide
information—they try to convince people to adopt a new behavior by showing
them a benefit they will receive in return.2 Florida’s Truth campaign,
for example, was instrumental in preventing teens from starting to smoke cigarettes
by sending the message that tobacco is an addictive drug marketed by a callous
adult establishment. So, the campaign re-framed “non-smoking” as
a cool act of rebellion.3 Social marketing campaigns have been used in a variety
of social service and public health settings to address issues ranging from
gambling to HIV prevention to seatbelt use.
Media advocacy involves shaping the way social issues are discussed in the
media to build support for changes in public policy. By working directly with
local newspapers, television, and radio to change both the amount of coverage
the media provide and the content of that coverage, media advocates hope to
influence the way people talk and think about a social or public policy.
There are two primary ways to think about media advocacy.
One way is to see it as a set of guerrilla activities designed
to draw the attention of the media to issues of community concern.4
This tactic was used quite successfully by AIDS activists in the
early 1990s to expand prescription drug coverage for people living
with HIV. The second way is to develop long-term relationships
with local media and identify ways to constructively engage them
in your prevention efforts. Understanding the mission and culture
of media is the first step toward constructive engagement. With
this understanding, you can, in effect, work as a social marketer
and position your organization as a resource to the media, as opposed
to an organization that simply wants coverage.
Media literacy is a newer communications strategy aimed at teaching young people
critical-viewing skills. Media literacy programs teach kids how to analyze
and understand the media messages they encounter so they can better understand
what they’re really being asked to do and think. Students also learn
to create messages that de-glamorize unhealthy activities like drinking alcohol
and smoking. They produce their own messages and advertisements and thus demonstrate
mastery of media literacy skills and ideas.
There are many organizations currently focusing on
this strategy and developing curricula for students of all ages.
For example, CSAP, in partnership with the American Academy of
Pediatrics and the CDC, developed MediaSharp, a two-part media
literacy resource guide for educators and community leaders who
work with middleschool and highschool youth.5 Students learn to
ask five key questions:
- Who created this message, and what is its
purpose?
- What techniques are being used to attract my attention?
- What
lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented?
- How is
this message intended to influence me?
- How did they choose what
to include and what to leave out of this message, and why did
they make these choices?
Some evidence suggests that media advocacy and media literacy are effective
communications strategies. However, more research is needed, in part because
of the current lack of sophisticated evaluation tools to measure outcomes
for these two strategies.
You have completed Module 4.
Please proceed to Activity 4: Applying Communication
Strategies.
References
- Flynn, B. S., Worden, J. K., Secker-Walker,
R. H., Badger, G. J., Geller, B. M., and Costanza, M. C. (1992).
Prevention of cigarette smoking through mass media intervention
and school
programs. American Journal of Public Health, 82, 827–834;
Flynn, B. S., Worden, J. K., Secker-Walker, R. H., Badger, G. J.,
and Geller, B. M. (1995). Cigarette smoking prevention effects
of mass media and school interventions targeted to gender and age
groups. Journal of Health Education, 26(Suppl.), 45–51; and
Flynn, B. S., Worden, J. K., Secker-Walker, R. H., Pirie, P. L.,
Badger, G. J., and Carpenter, J. H. (1997). Long-term responses
of higher and lower risk youths to smoking prevention interventions. Preventive
Medicine, 26, 389–394.
- Kotler, P. and Roberto,
E. (1989). Social marketing: Strategies for changing pubic
behavior. New York:
Free Press.
- Success Stories: Florida “truth” Campaign (n.d.). Available on the Social Marketing Institute Web site
at www.social-marketing.org/success/cs-floridatruth.html.
- Wallack,
L., Dorfman, L., Jernigan,
D., and Themba, M. (1993). Media advocacy and public health:
Power for prevention.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
- Center
for Substance Abuse Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration,
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Pediatrics,
National Education Association Health Information Network,
and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1997). MediaSharp:
Analyzing tobacco and alcohol messages (Leader’s guide).
Washington, DC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and
Simons-Morton, B. G., Donohew, L., and Crump, A. D. (1997). Health
communication in the prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and drug
use. Health Education and Behavior, 24(5), 544–554.
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