Almost all newspaper reports on alcohol-related deaths fail to mention the deceased’s level of drinking, according to research.
In what is claimed to be the first study of its type in the world, Irish researchers said the “glossing over” of alcohol deaths affected people’s support for un-popular measures, such as increasing prices and cutting availability.
Co-author and addiction expert Bobby Smyth said people were “being left almost completely in the dark” about the role alcohol plays in dozens of deaths each year, from poisonings to accidents, such as fires, drownings, and crashes.
The research said there were 388 deaths linked to alcohol over a two-year period (2008 and 2009). Just 43 of the deaths were reported in newspapers, in 100 articles.
“No article reported that a person was intoxicated or drunk,” said the report, published in the journal Alcohol & Alcoholism.
Source: Cormac O'Keeffe, Irish Examiner, 7/05/14
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