Public Service Campaign Research Articles

Rearticulating Ugliness, Repurposing Content: Ugly Betty Finds the Beauty in Ugly

American Broadcasting Company’s Ugly Betty with its ugly heroine may challenge dominant ideals of feminine beauty, but the subversive potential of Betty’s ugliness is largely recuperated through commodification and rhetorical strategies of rearticulation. This has happened most significantly beyond the episodic text via affiliated Web sites and a public service campaign, “Be Ugly ’07.” These outlets create an expansive text that provides immediate and interactive arenas in which to simultaneously expand and contain a reevaluation of Betty’s ugliness. By repurposing content across various Web sites, producers circulate multiple messages about beauty all the while creating an expansive and lucrative branded online environment. This article argues that the resulting rearticulation, ugly = self-assured, does not pose a significant challenge to traditional standards of beauty on television.

Health, Science, and the Media

Breastfeeding MedicineVol. 4, No. s1 Disparities in Breastfeeding: An Urgent Imperative for the Nation's HealthHealth, Science, and the MediaCarol JenkinsCarol JenkinsSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:14 Oct 2009https://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2009.0041AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail "Health, Science, and the Media." , 4(S1), pp. S-71–S-72FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 4Issue s1Oct 2009 InformationCopyright 2009, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:Carol Jenkins.Health, Science, and the Media.Breastfeeding Medicine.Oct 2009.S-71-S-72.http://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2009.0041Published in Volume: 4 Issue s1: October 14, 2009PDF download

Economic Crisis Taking Toll on Americans' Mental Health

Economic Crisis Taking Toll on Americans' Mental Health

Branding HIV/AIDS communication: the social marketing campaigns of MTV and Viacom

Abstract Based on an ethnographic study of the production and reception of HIV/AIDS public service campaigns by MTV and Viacom, this paper examines the role of branding in HIV/AIDS education promotion. A main premise of the paper is that audiences for HIV/AIDS social marketing campaigns are now less addressed in terms of the classic HIV/AIDS prevention categories of ‘general public’ and ‘risk groups’ and are increasingly viewed as ‘market segments’ implicated in the campaigns in relation to the techniques of branding. Drawing on examples from research conducted amongst audiences in the North of England, the findings highlight the differing audience understandings of the branded consumer objects and icons of HIV awareness. Using a cultural materialist perspective, concerned with the relationship between the campaigns and social relations, this paper examines the process of corporate‐sponsored HIV/AIDS campaigns. The findings underscore how social marketing campaigns are increasingly being related to as branded media objects and icons, closely tied to people's material experience and understandings of the aesthetics framing these branded objects and icons. The paper argues that identification and engagement with the campaigns is most evident amongst participants who shared the consumer values and the marketing discourses used by marketing managers and producers of the public service announcements. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Changing Perceptions of Depression: Ten-Year Trends From the General Social Survey

Changing Perceptions of Depression: Ten-Year Trends From the General Social Survey

Getting the Deterrence Message Out

Project Safe Neighborhoods was the centerpiece of the Bush administration's crime policy in President Bush's first term. This is a policy driven by deterrence and incapacitation and directed at reducing gun violence. In brief, the policy called for federal prosecution of certain gun crimes that had been previously prosecuted at the local level. The get-tough-on-crime message was further enhanced by minimum mandatory sentences. The interesting break from earlier efforts at deterrence and incapacitation was that Project Safe Neighborhoods provided funds to develop and execute a well-designed public service campaign to “get the message out there.” Interrupted time-series analysis of project effects in the Southern District of Alabama points to significantly lower post-intervention gun crime.

Minority-Oriented Programs Awarded for Achievements

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Association NewsFull AccessMinority-Oriented Programs Awarded for AchievementsKen HausmanKen HausmanSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:6 Jul 2007https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.42.13.0008The American Psychiatric Foundation's (APF) annual gala, held on May 19 in San Diego, accomplished two key goals—it set a fundraising record for the foundation and honored several initiatives that have advanced minority mental health, one of the program areas in which APF has provided considerable funding. It also provided contributors with great food, wine, and music.APF President Altha Stewart, M.D., noted at the gala that it was on track to raise about $230,000, an increase of $40,000 over the amount raised at the 2006 gala in Toronto.One popular fund-raising feature of recent foundation galas is a silent auction at which attendees bid on trips, gift baskets, and art work.Dennis Hunt, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Multicultural Human Services, receives an award on behalf of the program from American Psychiatric Foundation President Altha Stewart, M.D. The award recognizes the program's efforts to serve the “complex mental health needs of vulnerable, low-income immigrants, refugees, and survivors of war and trauma.”Credit: David HathcoxA major part of the evening, which was held at the San Diego Wine and Culinary Center, was presentation of the APF's annual Awards for Advancing Minority Mental Health. The following individual and programs were cited this year:♦ Henry Acosta, M.S.W., was recognized for his work at the New Jersey Mental Health Institute, where he has been instrumental in a major increase“ in access to and provision of quality mental health services for Hispanics through training, educational materials, public-service campaigns, and policy-development initiatives.”♦ Mt. Sinai Hospital Assertive Community Treatment Team in Toronto was acknowledged for its “ethno-specific program serving marginalized, severely, and persistently mentally ill ethnic minority populations.” The program relies on a “cultural-competency” model and matches patients with clinicians who have similar backgrounds.♦ Center for Multicultural Human Services in Falls Church, Va., was honored for developing a program that addresses “the complex mental health needs of vulnerable, low-income immigrants, refugees, and survivors of war and other trauma.”♦ Family Health Centers of San Diego was awarded for its extensive individual and group treatment programs and case management that address the mental health needs of “uninsured and medically underserved individuals.” The program has 24 service sites and serves more than 100,000 persons annually.The foundation also inducted Clarence Chou, M.D., of Milwaukee into its Benjamin Rush Circle, which honors donors who have given at least $10,000 over their lifetime to the APF. ▪ ISSUES NewArchived

Federal Agency Escalates Battle Against Stigma

Federal Agency Escalates Battle Against Stigma

The American Dental Association's oral cancer campaign: The impact on consumers and dentists

The ADA conducted a public service campaign in late 2001 to raise awareness of oral cancer and of the dentist's role in early detection. To gather information about the impact of this campaign, the ADA undertook two surveys. A telephone survey was conducted among 1,270 adult consumers, and a second survey was mailed to a national sample of 2,500 dentists. The majority of the consumers did not recognize the fact that dentists are responsible for examining their patients for oral cancer and that oral cancer claims more lives than melanoma or cervical cancer. The majority of dentists was aware of the ADA campaign and agreed that it helped raise the public's awareness of oral cancer and the importance of early detection. As a result, more dentists said that they are likely to educate their patients about early detection, adjust their own practice routines to include discussion about the disease, and look more closely for small oral lesions and test them with the brush biopsy test. The results of the survey of dentists demonstrated that the oral cancer awareness initiative sponsored by the ADA resulted in positive behavioral changes targeted toward the early detection of oral cancer. Continued efforts to provide health education and health promotion interventions aimed at consumers and dentists invariably will result in the detection of oral cancers at early and curable stages.

Falls from rooftops after heavy snowfalls: The risks of snow clearing activities

Many patients present to emergency departments as a result of falling from a roof while shoveling snow. This study was undertaken to determine whether the frequency of such falls increases after large snowfalls, and to describe associated injuries. We reviewed the records of all patients presenting with cause of injury codes (E-codes) related to a fall: (E882, E881, and E884.9). We compared the frequency with which snow-shoveling related falls from roofs occurred on days with and without snowfalls greater than 12 inches. Fifty-nine patients met inclusion criteria. Patients were more likely to fall from a roof while shoveling snow on days with greater than 12 inches of snow accumulation than on days with less than 12 inches of snow accumulation (12/14 v 2/45, P < .001). Injuries included spinal fractures, extremity fractures, and head injury. These results suggest a need for public service campaigns emphasizing the risks of roof shoveling. (Am J Emerg Med 2002;20:635-637. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.)

Integrating Race and Gender Issues Into the Basic Media Writing Course

Standard media writing courses rarely address race and gender issues, although research in our field illuminates the manifold ramifications on audiences of ploffing and characterization. Feminist scholars, for example, have decried the skewed depictions of violence against women that leave the public woefully uninformed. The author describes a writing assignment designed to improve such portrayals through a public service campaign targeting African-American teenagers and suggests strategies for addressing such freighted topics as race and rape.

Emergency contraceptives over the counter. Allowing easy access is important.

Since unanticipated and unprotected coitus among adolescents is common easy availability of emergency contraception (EC) is important. However in spite of the efficacy of the two EC regimens available in the United States only 1% of women who might have benefited from EC has ever used it. The reasons for the low usage are lack of information and lack of access. Public service campaigns and pharmaceutical advertisements are beginning to address the lack of information but EC accessibility remains constrained by the fact that these hormonal contraceptives require a prescription. It is noted however that EC does not meet the requirements for prescription drugs. For example no learned intermediary is needed to diagnose a torn condom. In addition the dose is the same for all women and so does not need to be tailored to a specific patient’s needs. Finally the drug is safe and no adverse effects have been linked to its use even from an overdose. On the other hand factors such as cost embarrassment and inconvenience may deter young women from seeking prescriptions. The availability of EC over the counter in drug stores that are open evenings and weekends would remove these obstacles. Ultimately EC could supplement rather than replace the existing distribution of other contraceptives.

“Just as if it Happened to Me”: The Impact of Vivid and Self-Relevant Information on Risk Judgments

Campaigns to make people aware of their susceptibility to health and safety risks reflect the assumption that people's perception of susceptibility can be influenced by exposure to information about such risks. However, such attempts to encourage precautionary behavior are seldom effective in influencing people's personal risk judgments. Tyler and Cook's (1984) impersonal impact hypothesis and Weinstein's (1980) work on unrealistic optimism suggest that information campaigns can only exert influence on societal level judgments, but not on personal level judgments (people's beliefs about their personal lives). Based on the notion that direct experience of harm is often a powerful stimulus to action, the two studies reported in this article demonstrate that indirect experience may be as powerful as direct experience when it shares some of its properties. The results of these studies show that vivid and self-relevant information can influence both personal and societal level judgments. Implications for use of risk information in public service campaigns are discussed.

The perceived impact of the mass media: Reconsidering the third person effect

AbstractCommunication scholars describe a pervasive ‘third person effect’ wherein people see mass media as more likely to affect other people than themselves. Two experiments are reported demonstrating that this effect is not a universal response to the issue of social influence, but occurs in specific social comparative contexts. In Experiment I respondents judged the impact on self and other of three types of media content‐negative content, positive content, and public service campaigns. Comparison others varied on two dimensions, vagueness and closeness. A third person effect was found for both negative and positive content, but was more pronounced for negative content. The effect was also more pronounced in comparisons with vague and distant others. In contrast, respondents saw themselves as relatively vulnerable to influence from public service campaigns. Moreover, the direction of perceived self‐other differences varied with respondents' perceptions of the desirability of the intended influence. In Experiment 2 respondents judged the impact on self and other of media violence and drink‐driving campaigns. Results confirmed a perception of relative invulnerability to negative content and indicated that comparisons with vague others, and particularly with vague‐distant others like ‘the average person’, facilitate such perceptions. Perceived self‐other differences on the issue of drink‐driving were less evident and varied with the perceived desirability of the intended influence. Results are discussed in terms of the ego‐defensive and self‐enhancing functions of social comparisons.

Upcoming public service campaign on medication use

Upcoming public service campaign on medication use

Radio and Teens: Convincing Gatekeepers to Air Health Messages

During 1987, the National Cancer Institute conducted a radio public service campaign using a well-known celebrity spokesperson, which was targeted to teenage audiences to warn them of the dangers of smoking. This article describes the influence of (a) the celebrity spokesperson and (b) personal contact with station personnel regarding the media gatekeepers' response to the campaign. We argue that radio is an often neglected media channel in most public service announcement (PSA) campaigns, but can be especially effective for hard-to-reach audiences such as teenagers. As in any public service effort, the media gatekeepers must be convinced to air the messages before the campaign can be successful. The evaluation of this campaign demonstrates that by targeting the stations and the audience and by producing credible, high-quality PSAs it is possible to reach these media gatekeepers and gain their cooperation in conducting a successful national radio campaign.

AIDS awareness study.

The Center for Disease Control was given the responsibility for developing and disseminating information about AIDS. To that end, the Center retained Ogilvy & Mather Advertising to prepare an extensive public service campaign on the subject. In order to develop the most effective communication, research was needed to establish the level of public awareness and to explore attitudes toward this disease. The study presented here deals with the attitudes of women. It was conducted by Blanka Eckstein of B. Eckstein Qualitative Research and by Paul Murdoch, Research Director of Ogilvy & Mather Atlanta. Findings from other population groups (i.e., teenage boys, gay men, parents of teens) were reported by other researchers. Address correspondence to Blanka Eckstein Social Science Applications, 251 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016.

Nurse Anesthetists Participate in National Public Service Campaign

Nurse Anesthetists Participate in National Public Service Campaign

Nurse Anesthetists Participate in National Public Service Campaign

Plastic Surgical Nursing (PSN) is a quarterly journal that has been published continuously since 1980 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW). The Journal presents the most current information about plastic and aesthetic nursing practice. PSN features clinical articles covering a wide variety of surgical and nonsurgical reconstructive and aesthetic procedures. Articles about patient education techniques and research findings are also included, as well as articles discussing the important ethical issues and trends in this expanding clinical nursing specialty. The Journal additionally provides relevant continuing education contact hours in every issue. Members of ISPAN receive the Journal as a benefit of membership.

The Business of Missing Children

No pediatric issue has so captured the attention of the American public during the past year as that of missing children. It is impossible to escape the haunting faces who peer out at us from television screens, milk cartons, breakfast cereal boxes, grocery sacks, bus posters, and business envelopes. Corporations vie with each other over sponsorship of public service campaigns to "publicize the plight of missing children," while television stations compete with a whole variety of specials. Naturally, whenever emotional concerns of such magnitude are raised, politicians are sure to become involved with stern demands for "immediate action." In May 1985, no less than three separate congressional committees held hearings on missing children all in the same week.