International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Media advocacy is the strategic use of mass media to support community organizing and to advance public policy that improves health (→  Health Communication ; Strategic Communication ). The purpose of media advocacy is to put pressure on policymakers by setting the agenda and shaping debate to include policy solutions in news coverage of health issues. Media advocacy equips people to become active in the political process of making change. Media advocacy grew from a collaboration of public health groups working on tobacco and alcohol with →  public interest and consumer advocates in the 1980s. The public interest and consumer groups brought strategies and tactics that were more common in political campaigns than in public health efforts. The public health perspective provided a solid basis in science and theory for creating change. The result has been an approach that blends science, politics, and advocacy to advance public health goals. Rather than intervene at the personal level to change behavior, media advocates practice at the political level to change policy. Media advocacy relies on theories and research from fields such as political science, social psychology, and mass communications, such as agenda setting and framing (→  Agenda-Setting Effects ; Framing Effects ). This research is applied in the context of community organizing, coalition building, and policy advocacy. ... log in or subscribe to read full text