Wisconsin: Cheese, brats and rampant alcohol problems?

By sensationalizing a serious societal problem, The Post-Crescent and Journal-Sentinel have caused an uninformed panic to occur. Plus, I feel embarrassed knowing the local press chooses to render
Wisconsin as a state full of out of control drunks.

Since June of this year, the Appleton Post-Crescent has published a series of stories exposing the drinking habits of Wisconsin. The series, titled “The State of Drinking,” walks readers through different social issues such as binge drinking, alcohol-related health problems, alcohol-related family problems, and the effects of drunken driving crashes.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has followed suit by publishing its own five-part special series titled “Wasted in Wisconsin.” Like the Post-Crescent series, it too is a collection of news stories that display scenes of drunken tragedies.

Both newspapers published powerful and emotional stories that uncovered the effects of alcohol abuse, yet neither one of these newspapers succeeded in showing the whole picture. While I can give credit to each newspaper for attempting to bring awareness to some very serious alcohol-related social issues, I object to the way these writings depicted Wisconsinites as binge-drinking slobs with nothing more to do than drink their small-town sorrows away.

These special reports may have provided an accurate report of the life of an alcoholic, yet they failed to represent the nearly 70% of drinkers who are considered light drinkers. There were numerous accounts of drunken-driving crashes, alcohol-related illnesses, and families destroyed by alcohol abuse, but there was very little mention of the majority of drinkers who regularly yet responsibly consume alcohol.

In nearly every article, the writers were quick to point out that Wisconsin leads the nation in both number of binge drinkers and OWI arrests. However, none of the articles show that national statistics indicate instances of operating while intoxicated and overall alcohol consumption have been declining year-over-year, and underage drinking has not increased but remained steady.

While the Post-Crescent and the Journal-Sentinel try to convince its readership that Wisconsin has a growing problem with its drinking culture, statistics clearly indicate the opposite. The Center for Disease Control reports that 60.8% of the U.S. population consumes alcohol, this is down from 61.4% in 2005 and 63.1% in 1997. Out of the drinking population, 67.5% are classified as light drinkers, and only 8.3% are classified as binge drinkers.

The National Survey on Drug Use, first published by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 1997, reports that the number of people who have operated a motor vehicle while intoxicated in the past year has also dropped from 14.2% in 2002 to 12.7% in 2007. That same report shows that 27.9% of those age 12 though 20 have consumed alcohol in the past year, a number that had remained unchanged between 2006 and 2007.

These statistics are indicative of an overall trend toward more responsible drinking behaviors and an increase in abstinence from alcohol. With that being said, it can be argued that as the population changes its drinking habits for the better, many of these alcohol-related social problems will decrease.

While one-sided statistics worked to make Wisconsinites look bad, a negative portrayal of the Tavern League of Wisconsin by both papers helped make the TLW look like an evil monster. The TLW was ridiculed for fighting sales tax increases on alcohol sales, suppressing a statewide smoking ban, and opposing legislation that makes first time drunken driving offenses a criminal act.

Almost no mention was made of TLW’s real purpose – to promote responsible drinking so the tavern industry can remain a healthy business segment. While the public continues to cry out against excessive drinking and drunken driving, The Post-Crescent and The Journal-Sentinel work to discredit the Tavern League of Wisconsin. This is a foolish move considering the TLW is a strong advocate of responsible drinking.

Why is this all so upsetting to me? These news stories use unbalanced reporting in an effort to drive positive social change. By sensationalizing a serious societal problem, these writings have caused an uninformed panic to occur. Plus, I feel embarrassed knowing the local press chooses to render Wisconsin as a state full of out of control drunks.

Even though I disagree with the angle of the Post-Crescent and Journal-Sentinel reports, it does not mean I think problems with binge drinking, drunkenriving, and alcoholism don’t exist. I feel terrible knowing that thousands of people are killed each year in alcohol-related traffic crashes. It saddens me to see families and relationships torn apart due to alcohol abuse. These issues not only affect the victims, they affect society as a whole.
Society needs to work at reducing all of its problems, no matter the magnitude.

Even though alcohol-related social problems may not be increasing, work still needs to be done to reduce them. The real solutions lie not in half-truths and sensationalized reports, but in rational, educated decisions. Without a balanced account of the facts to base decisions on, the solutions to these problems will be ineffective. Hopefully the day will come when newspapers like The Appleton Post-Crescent and The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel realize this.

Contact Brian Kutchenriter at bkutchenriter@aol.com.