National Media Campaign

Published Keys to Success

The National Media Campaign hosts a Web site, which highlights information about its programs. The following published bullets or "keys to success" describe the foundation for the campaign, according to ONDCP:

• Strong bipartisan congressional support and recognition of the critical importance of the issue to the American public
• A solid scientific and research base to serve as the campaign's foundation
• Pro bono advertising created in conjunction with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America
• Participation by leading media corporations as well as civic, volunteer, youth-serving, education, prevention, public health, and multicultural organizations

Components

The National Media Campaign Web site also describes seven campaign components that constitute the overall media approach. They are as follows:

• 1.
  Advertising: Paid and donated campaign advertising on television and radio, in print, and on the Internet delivers antidrug information to target audiences through more than 1,300 media outlets across the country.
• 2.
  Media: News media outreach and promotional activities (such as the marijuana initiative) enable the campaign to deliver important antidrug information while at the same time elevating the profile of the campaign.
• 3.
  The Internet: The campaign has been a leader in social marketing on the Internet. The campaign's family of Web sites for teens (http://Freevibe.com) and parents (http://TheAntiDrug.com), along with other sites developed to reach adult influencers, receive approximately 5 million page views and almost 2 million visitors per month. Traffic is driven to the sites through online and traditional advertising and publicity, Web links through Internet sites that support the campaign messages (e.g., news, health, or target age related), Internet search engines, and direct access. Campaign Web partners work to reach the elusive teen target through popular sites such as http://MTV.com and http://CosmoGirl.com. News-related sites, such as The New York Times, ABC News, and US News and World Report, and search engines, such as http://Google.com and http://Yahoo.com, assist the campaign in reaching parents and influencers.
• 4.
  Entertainment Outreach: The campaign provides information and resources to entertainment writers and producers to increase accurate depictions of drug abuse in entertainment programming. The campaign holds regular media roundtable events for entertainment writers on hot topics such as ecstasy, methamphetamines, steroids, and early intervention.
• 5.
  Multicultural Outreach: Advertising and outreach is targeted to African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and American Indian/Alaska Native audiences; materials are produced in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian.
• 6.
  Partnerships: Campaign partners distribute antidrug information and messages to their members and communities through a number of different channels, including events and highly visible meetings attended by young people and their parents. Campaign partners include the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the National PTA, YMCA, the National Middle School Association, the American Academy of Pediatricians, the National Education Association, [Page 614]the Congress of National Black Churches, UNITY (United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc.), ASPIRA (the largest Hispanic youth organization), Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, the U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute, and the National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse.
• 7.
  Work Program: The campaign developed the @Work program to reach parents where they spend much of their time—at work. Many human resource professionals say that they believe that employees who have children with substance abuse problems are more likely to suffer from decreased morale and productivity, and they use an increasing amount of health care dollars. The @Work Web site, http://www.TheAntiDrug.com/AtWork, makes it easy for employers, labor organizations, associations, community coalitions, and other groups to share youth drug prevention information with working parents. The site features newsletter articles, e-mail parenting tips, and information about ordering or downloading campaign posters and brochures. All of the electronic resources are formatted for easy adaptation and customization.

Evaluation Report

The U.S. Government Accountability Office published a report in August 2006 to a U.S. Senate appropriations subcommittee on transportation, treasury, the judiciary, housing and urban development, and related agencies. The report highlighted some disturbing findings on the overall effectiveness of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. The report concluded that the campaign was not effective in reducing youth drug use.

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