Mass Communication and Public Health: Complexities and Conflicts (SAGE Focus Editions)

The media influence how we live--and die. Tobacco can kill us, yet we continue to smoke. Drinking and driving is a lethal combination, yet we continue to drive when inebriated. Poor diet slowly destroys us, yet we continue to eat unhealthily. Why? Evolving from a national conference, Mass Communication and Public Health examines why public information campaigns have achieved limited success and what can be done to improve their effectiveness. This up-to-date volume has a fourfold focus:

Charles K. Atkin (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin; B.A., Michigan State University) is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State, where he has served as Chair for 15 years. He teaches and conducts research on mass communication campaigns, particularly in the health domain. Based on sustained accomplishments in applied research on health campaigns, he received the 2006 Decade of Behavior Award from the American Psychological Association and a consortium of 54 social science organizations as well as the 2008 career award as “Outstanding Health Communication Scholar” from National Communication Association and the International Communication Association Health Communication Divisions. In 2010, he was selected for the Phillips Award for Distinguished Applied Communication Research by the National Communication Association. He has been a Fellow of the International Communication Association since 1999. He has published almost 100 journal articles and ten books, including Mass Communication and Public Health (1990, SAGE) and Public Communication Campaigns (1989, 2001, SAGE). His federal grant research has been extensive, with recent major projects on breast cancer and binge drinking.