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National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
Phase 1 (Report No. 1)
3.3.2.4 Media Informants' Responses to ONDCP Media Campaign
Most media informants reported that the Media Campaign had not affected their broadcasting of other PSAs, although one TV informant in Houston said "it puts others on the back burner." An informant in Sioux City speculated that there could be two possible outcomes of the ONDCP Media Campaign: (1) the development of expectations by media outlets that anti-drug ads would be paid for, which would eventually squeeze out groups unable or unwilling to pay; and (2) the potential freeing up of PSA times for those willing to take the less desirable slots as the paid ads are moved into prime time slots.
Many of the outlets described commitment to community values and activities and a sense of responsibility to their communities that often was operationalized in public education campaigns. Many TV and radio stations reported a tendency to select ads for causes that addressed their community's needs. Sometimes this selection reflected the personal concerns of those in charge.
For example, at one site a local weather forecaster's daughter and granddaughter had been killed in a car crash caused by a drunk driver. He initiated an ongoing anti-drunk driving campaign. In another example, a (minority) news editor in Milwaukee served as chairman of a communitywide coalition formed to develop a substance abuse prevention plan for teenagers. Part of his work involved a campaign to restrict tobacco billboards around schools and a campaign to rid stores of drug paraphernalia.
Many of the media informants described children's issues as being a priority. In Atlanta, the presence of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides heightened awareness of health issues; a newspaper recently covered a study by the Center for Injury Prevention on injuries connected with drug use. In Baltimore, a local TV station has, for the past 8 years, produced and run 2 half-hour shows per month called "Straight Talk." The interview show, hosted by the director of the Baltimore County Office of Substance Abuse, addresses substance abuse issues with local guests. This station uses a "community ascertainment process" to set priorities, soliciting the perspectives of local associations, agencies, and community leaders. For the past 2 years, health has been the major focus.
At a Spanish-language station in Denver, almost all PSAs promoted local organizations. The minority outlets in general had a heightened commitment to the local community and ran substantial numbers of PSAs. This station devoted considerable time and energy to combating drug abuse. In addition to an extensive campaign of 30-second spots, the station produced news specials on drugs (including interviews with youth and parents who had been on drugs) and sponsored school-based anti-drug efforts.
Not all stations in the target sites had fully implemented the one-for-one match. One station in Hartford reported "a bit of confusion on the one-for-one, and the one-for-one paid ads are not necessarily put on during prime time." In Milwaukee, only one of four station managers (at a black radio station) said the station provided airtime to match paid ads. Another radio station manager said he would consider giving free time on a space available basis but was not currently doing so. Most stations preferred to attach a local phone number to their ads.
Selection of ads varied tremendously. Ads that were perceived to be offensive (e.g., Teeth) were not given air time at one station. Ads would not be run in some sites if they depicted actual use of drugs, profanity, or guns. A TV station in Portland decided to avoid airing anti-drug ads with celebrities, noting that "research has shown this to be ineffective with youth." They preferred to use congruent peer groups to reach teenagers.
A university-affiliated radio station in the same site writes its own PSAs and runs them at the discretion of station hosts. The informant there suggested that their listeners had very liberal views on marijuana use and they tended to not run anti-drug PSAs. They did, however, mention drug treatment centers. The PSAs they ran tended to be on nonpolitical subjects such as nonprofit events for the arts, scholarships, quilting shows, and conferences.
A few media informants said that the ads had already generated responses. In Atlanta, the responses came from advertisers and were positive. The staff at a network affiliate there talked about the Frying Pan ad and the general manager said the ads were "fabulous." The minority newspaper in Atlanta ran its first ads in an issue just before the interview and had received 10 calls --
4 of them from youth and all of them positive. Informants from both Atlanta television stations liked the ads. One particularly liked the "emotional" ads such as Frying Pan and Girl Interview, while the other responded to ads that were "hard-hitting" and they frequently ran Boy on Couch and Free Ride.
Two outlets in Baltimore had not received any responses. One informant reported that a health official had made a sarcastic reference to the Media Campaign suggesting that the money would be better spent elsewhere. One TV station in Houston suggested that people only respond to the negative and not to the good things they see; hence, they only expected to receive responses if the ads were perceived as offensive and speculated that Frying Pan might draw some attention.
A local coalition in San Diego charged with monitoring the Media Campaign said that some ads generated more calls than they expected and said, "we are reaching an incredible number of people." They received more than 100 phone calls and within 2 weeks sent out 300 booklets to parents and educators (from whom most of the calls were received). One mother called and said "it scared me to death because it showed me how much I don't know." Opposing views came from a few callers who felt that the ads encourage young people to try drugs.
The Pima County Prevention Partnership in Tucson received continuous phone calls for information and referral. A staff member described calls from grandparents who saw the ad asking grandparents to get involved. For the most part, however, media outlets did not have a system for registering and monitoring responses and consequently informants had little to say about the community impact.
The following are examples of issues identified as public service priorities by various outlets: education and academic achievement; health; literacy; violence; tobacco; child abuse; teenage pregnancy; tornado victims; STD awareness; cancer prevention; substance abuse; HIV; the March of Dimes campaign; infant mortality; and local charities and charitable events.
At 8 weeks into the intervention, the Media Campaign reportedly had not yet had an impact on the coverage of substance abuse issues by the local media. One informant suggested that it was difficult to write about drug and alcohol issues today, saying "it's not sexy to write about drugs anymore" because most people sense that "the war on drugs is lost, so why write about it."
Many outlets collaborated with community organizations by supporting community efforts such as Red Ribbon Week, promoting events for causes such as muscular dystrophy, providing referrals to a local drug treatment center, food drives for homeless shelters, and a community breast cancer walk. The decision about what initiatives to support or participate in were almost always based on the priorities of the community.
Most media informants personally thought the ONDCP prevention messages were well produced and effective (with the exception of the Cannabis Stupida billboard, which was universally disliked by the informants who were interviewed). Several informants, however, questioned reliance on a national media campaign because drug abuse was felt to be a "grass roots problem," because youth tend to ignore messages from commercials, and because "it's hard for youth to imagine something having a consequence 5, 10, 20 years later." Many expressed the hope that parents would use the ads as a springboard for discussions with their children.
