Alcohol plays a role in many murders, assaults, and motor-vehicle crashes, but rarely gets mentioned in media reports on such incidents, according to researchers at Ohio State University.

A new study found that although alcohol plays a role in 31 percent of homicides, and many assaults, just 2.6 percent of TV reports, 7.3 percent of newspaper reports, and 5.6 percent of magazine reports mentioned the link between the violent crimes covered and alcohol use. Researchers looked at about 1,000 newspaper stories, 550 TV news programs, and 72 magazine issues.

The media were more likely to mention alcohol when it was involved in traffic incidents, but still fell short of actual prevalence. Researchers say that 34 percent of crashes involve alcohol, but alcohol was mentioned in just 12.8 percent of TV stories, 19.2 percent of newspaper stories, and 22.2 percent of magazine stories on auto accidents.

Alcohol also was very rarely mentioned in relation to other types of accidents, even though nearly one-third of these typically involve drinking.

"People's perceptions of risk are strongly shaped by what they see in the media, so many people may have distorted views about the risks of alcohol use," said study co-author Michael Slater. "If the media doesn't report on the link between alcohol and violent crime and accidents, most people won't be fully aware of the risks. This may also decrease public support for alcohol-control measures that can significantly reduce alcohol-related problems."

The research appears in the November 2006 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol.