Irish people are being left ‘almost completely in the dark' about the role that alcohol plays in many deaths every year because newspapers are failing to report on this, a new study suggests.
It found that in 100 reports of 43 alcohol-related deaths, not one newspaper article stated that the person who had died was drunk.
The research focused on the way in which newspapers reported on alcohol-related deaths in Ireland over a two-year period.
Alcohol-related deaths were due to alcohol poisoning or trauma, such as road traffic accidents, drowning, falls and choking, where alcohol was identified as ‘a causal contributor to death'.
Deaths due to chronic alcohol-related medical conditions and suicide were not included in the research.
The researchers looked at 100 reports of 43 alcohol-related deaths that were reported in local and national newspapers. None of the articles reported that the deceased person was drunk and just two articles - which were about the same person - clearly reported that the dead person had been drinking for a prolonged period of time before their death.
Overall, two in three articles failed to mention the use of alcohol at all. In the remaining articles, the use of alcohol was suggested, however in most of these reports, this was just to indicate that the person had been ‘socialising' before their death.
"In most newspaper reports into these alcohol-related deaths, there was absolutely no suggestion of any alcohol use. Where drinking was hinted at, this was via use of vague and ambiguous euphemisms such as 'socialising' in most cases," noted the study's co-author, Dr John Fagan, of Temple Street Children's Hospital.
He pointed out that the biggest category of deaths related to alcohol poisoning, with around 130 such deaths every year.
"These deaths were the least likely to be reported in newspapers. Surprisingly, where alcohol poisoning deaths were reported, alcohol use was less likely to be mentioned or suggested when compared to the articles on deaths due to falls, fires, drowning and road traffic collisions," he said.
Source: Deborah Condon, irishhealth.com, 07/05/14
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