In Humphrey Bogart's era, smoking was a sexy, attractive habit. In many sectors of society today, it carries a powerful stigma. Drunk driving is no longer tolerated in many social circles, and the concept of a designated driver has become widely accepted. Similarly, the topic of television violence has catapulted to prominence, although concerns about community disintegration and family breakdown remain largely unaddressed.
Timing is critically important in deciding when to tackle an issue.
Important issues that arise on the social agenda, such as gun proliferation, drug abuse, AIDS, and drunk driving, have a natural life history with fairly discrete stages that may extend over years and even decades. Gun-related violence is now entering an exponential growth phase. These questions are important not only intellectually but also operationally for individuals and institutions seeking to influence media, public, and policy agendas. To explore these issues, The Annenberg Washington Program and the Harvard Center for Health Communication convened a national invitational conference in October 1993 to examine how various factors influence the content of the public agenda and the evolution of social norms, and how mass communication can be mobilized to maximize health through its influence on the public agenda, on social norms, and on individual behavior. The sessions brought together leading scholars, activists, public opinion analysts, government officials, and business and foundation leaders, and focused specifically on the prevention of gun- related violence.