CPP Media Literacy & Public Awareness 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'inoculation theory' applied to substance use prevention messaging involves:
- Vaccinating at-risk youth with naloxone education
- Pre-exposing audiences to weakened forms of pro-drug arguments so they can resist them (Correct answer)
- Using immune-system metaphors to explain addiction biology
- Protecting children from all media exposure to substance use content
Correct answer: Pre-exposing audiences to weakened forms of pro-drug arguments so they can resist them
Inoculation theory suggests that exposing audiences to weakened counterarguments and teaching refusal skills builds resistance to future pro-drug messages.
Question 2: Which of the following BEST describes 'media advocacy' as used in prevention?
- Purchasing airtime for public service announcements
- Strategically using media to advance a policy or social change agenda (Correct answer)
- Training journalists to cover addiction stories accurately
- Monitoring media for harmful substance use portrayals
Correct answer: Strategically using media to advance a policy or social change agenda
Media advocacy involves strategically generating media coverage to advance specific policy changes or shift public opinion on prevention issues.
Question 3: A prevention program measures 'frequency' in a media campaign. Frequency refers to:
- The total unique audience reached by the campaign
- The average number of times each person in the audience is exposed to the message (Correct answer)
- The radio wave frequencies used for broadcast
- How often the campaign is updated with new content
Correct answer: The average number of times each person in the audience is exposed to the message
Frequency measures the average number of exposures per person reached, important because repetition is often needed for behavior change.
Question 4: Entertainment-education (EE) strategies in prevention use fictional media because:
- Fictional content is cheaper to produce than documentary formats
- Narratives reduce psychological reactance while modeling healthy behaviors (Correct answer)
- Regulatory requirements mandate entertainment-based formats for youth
- Entertainment media has fewer restrictions on health claims
Correct answer: Narratives reduce psychological reactance while modeling healthy behaviors
Entertainment-education leverages storytelling to deliver health messages with reduced psychological reactance, as audiences are absorbed in narrative rather than feeling lectured.
Question 5: A news story accurately reporting rising opioid overdose deaths could INADVERTENTLY cause harm if it:
- Includes quotes from medical experts
- Provides detailed descriptions of drug-use methods (contagion effect) (Correct answer)
- Mentions available treatment resources
- Reports statistics from peer-reviewed studies
Correct answer: Provides detailed descriptions of drug-use methods (contagion effect)
Detailed depictions of drug-use methods in media can have a contagion effect, inadvertently providing instructional information that increases risk.
Question 6: In health communication, 'framing effects' occur when:
- Posters and visual frames are used in prevention displays
- The same information presented differently leads to different audience responses (Correct answer)
- Media stories are framed by their geographic region
- Prevention messages are delivered within a structured curriculum framework
Correct answer: The same information presented differently leads to different audience responses
Framing effects demonstrate that how information is presented (e.g., gain vs. loss frames) can significantly alter audience perception and behavior.
Question 7: When a prevention coalition pitches a story to local news media, which strategy MOST increases the likelihood of coverage?
- Sending a lengthy detailed report with all program statistics
- Tying the story to a recent local event and providing a human-interest angle (Correct answer)
- Contacting national media outlets instead of local ones
- Submitting an op-ed criticizing current prevention funding
Correct answer: Tying the story to a recent local event and providing a human-interest angle
Journalists are more likely to cover stories with local relevance, timeliness, and compelling human interest — making newsworthiness the key to earned media.
CPP Media Literacy & Public Awareness 3
The 'inoculation theory' applied to substance use prevention messaging involves: