Working with the Media: Creating Resources for Journalists

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Translating knowledge about alcohol, alcohol use in pregnancy, and FASD remains a tricky task. In 2013, at the International Conference on FASD in Vancouver, a panel addressed how the science of alcohol use during pregnancy is translated into messages by the public health and media, and provided tips for media advocacy. In 2023, the need for consistent and de-stigmatizing information has never been more urgent.

Research in the last decade has found that media coverage of FASD most often frames the actions of mothers who use alcohol during pregnancy without compassion, and individuals with FASD as deserving of sympathy. Coverage is often stigmatizing and isolating and is often interspersed with conflicting information about the safety of alcohol use during pregnancy.

In recent years, the Canada FASD Research Network has released common messaging guides (updated annually) with the most up-to-date language advice for speaking and writing about FASD, as well as a media guide. Their most recent resource, Reporting on Alcohol Use During Pregnancy and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, further supports understanding and reporting by those working in the Canadian media.

The resource follows the release of Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health and reinforces the messaging that drinking less is better for everyone’s health, and that no alcohol is safest during pregnancy. It then answers common questions about alcohol use in pregnancy such as: 1) What are the risks of alcohol use during pregnancy? 2) Why might alcohol be consumed during pregnancy? and 3) What supports can benefit people who use alcohol during pregnancy? Among others.

In this era of misinformation, it has never been more important to adopt an evidence-informed approach and consistent messaging around alcohol use, alcohol use during pregnancy, and FASD.

Read the resource in full here or visit the CanFASD website for more information.