Citation

Russell A, Voas RB, DeJong W, Chaloupka M. Public Health Rep. (1974) 1995; 110(3): 240-245.

Affiliation

Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Association of Schools of Public Health)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7610210

PMCID

PMC1382113

Abstract

The "Rating the States" (RTS) Program of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is designed to bring public attention to the status of State government efforts to combat alcohol-impaired driving. MADD's 1993 report, which evaluated each State with a grade from A to D, brought renewed visibility to MADD's fight for new prevention policies and helped to advance key State legislation. Because of MADD's national press conference and other media activities, more than 60 million Americans saw or heard a news story related to the program. This article outlines the program's objectives and methodology, efforts to publicize the results, and what was achieved in terms of news media coverage and in advancing public policy change. The RTS Program is a proven media advocacy strategy for prompting State legislatures and Governors to enact new policies. The article concludes with guidelines for other public health advocacy groups that may want to emulate this strategy.

Language: en