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Abstract
Our physical health depends, at least in part, upon the health of our media environment. Unfortunately, the commercial media system produces countless messages that not only misinform Americans about their health but also actively promote unhealthy behaviors. Rather than taking the existing media system as a given, this commentary argues that health communication scholars should work with media reformers to transform the media system in ways that advance public health goals. In particular, the ongoing regulatory struggle over low-power radio provides an important opportunity for health communication scholars and media reformers to join forces.
Notes
1. In 1999, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that underage drinkers accounted for 19.7% of all alcohol consumed in 1999, yielding the alcohol industry revenues in excess of $22 billion. In 2001, the figures were 18% and $22.5 billion, respectively (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Citation2003, Citation2006).
2. For example, Kreps et al. (Citation2002) describe how the Health Information National Trends Survey will “assess public communication channel preferences, the sources for cancer information that different groups of Americans judge to be most credible, and the messages those groups find to be most compelling” (p. 374). The problem here is that respondents can only discuss those media “sources” that currently exist, so future health education efforts become trapped within the horizon of the already-existing commercial system.
3. If, under the current regulations that govern the industry, cable television is not subject to public-interest obligations, there is no logical reason why cable companies could not be so charged in the future. After all, cable content providers use the public airwaves to move programming through their distribution chains, providing an opening for a more aggressive regulatory stance in the future (Cooper, Citation2002).