Shaping effective public health messaging for global impact: An analysis of the media coverage of Canada’s proposed updated alcohol guidelines

Background: This paper analyses the news media coverage of Canada’s proposed updated alcohol guidelines that were submitted for public consultation in the fall of 2022. Methods: Systematic media tracking was performed from August 29 to October 14, 2022 in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. News articles were included if they mentioned the guidelines, and they were classified as positive, negative, or neutral in tone. Different types of arguments were inductively identified and defined from the raw data. Results: Canada’s proposed updated guidelines received substantial media attention. In total, 870 articles were identified over the nine-week period: 85 positive, 279 negative and 506 neutral articles. A clear majority of the articles were duplicates, and 65 were original (24 positive, 22 negative and 19 neutral articles). Most articles were coded for several arguments. All positive articles evoked the Scientific Argument stating that the guidelines demonstrated that alcohol was harmful and/or more harmful than previously thought. The Access to Information Argument, which highlights that people lack knowledge about the risks of alcohol and that they have the right to know, was also evoked in a majority of the positive articles. Most negative articles criticized the guidelines for overlooking the benefits of alcohol and exaggerating its risks. The Canadian proposed updated guidelines seemed to receive comparatively more attention, and a higher number of positive news articles compared to what has been observed elsewhere. Conclusions: The paper suggests that informative guidance based on people’s right to know about the risks of alcohol rather than firm prescriptive guidelines may generate more positive coverage in the news media. Furthermore, the paper highlights the importance of public health actors adopting a strategic and coordinated knowledge translation and exchange approach to counteract the predominantly negative reception from the commercial and alcohol industry actors.