This study considers the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 in light of the political climate of the late 1980s. A series of Sports Illustrated articles concerning the adverse consequences of steroid use are addressed, as are the broader social forces that may have led Congress to pass legislation classifying steroids as Schedule III controlled substances. Articles from Sports Illustrated appeared in the appendixes of congressional hearings, and several individuals who appeared in those articles were invited to testify. From a theoretical base of agenda building, this study focuses on the relationships between media, policy makers, and everyday news consumers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berkowitz, D.
(1994). Who sets the media agenda? The ability of policymakers to determine news decisions. In J. D. Kennamer (Ed.), Public opinion, the press, and public policy (pp. 81-102). Westport, CT: Praeger.
2.
Brown, J.
, & Walsh-Childers, K. (1994). Effects of media on personal and public health. In J. Bryant & D. Zillman (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 384-415). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
3.
Cashmore, E.
(1994, November 11). Run of the pill. New Statesman and Society, 7, 22-23.
4.
Chaikin, T.
, & Telander, R. (1988, October 24). The nightmare of steroids. Sports Illustrated, pp. 84-102.
5.
Courson, S.
, & Schreiber, L. (1991). False glory: The Steve Courson story. Stamford, CT: Longmeadow.
6.
Goldman, R.
, & Klantz, R. (1992). Death in the locker room II. Chicago: Elite Sports Medicine.
7.
Greenblatt, D.
(1988-1989). Urine drug testing: What does it test?New England Law Review, 23, 651-666.
8.
H.R. 995: The Anabolic Steroid Restriction Act of 1989: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, 101st Cong., 1st Sess. (1989).
9.
H.R. 4658: The Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, 101st Cong., 2d Sess. (1990).
10.
Johnson, T. J.
, Wanta, W., Boudreau, T., Blank-Libra, J., Schaffer, K., & Turner, S. (1996). Influence dealers: A path analysis model of agenda building during Richard Nixon's war on drugs. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 73(1), 181-194.
11.
Johnson, W. O.
(1985, May 13). Steroids: A problem of huge dimensions. Sports Illustrated, pp. 38-61.
12.
Johnson, W. O.
, & Moore, K. (1988, October 3). The loser. Sports Illustrated, pp. 20-26.
13.
Kennamer, J. D.
(1994). Public opinion, the press, and public policy: An introduction. In J. D. Kennamer (Ed.), Public opinion, the press, and public policy (pp. 1-17). Westport, CT: Praeger.
14.
Klein, A. M.
(1986). Pumping irony: Crisis and contradiction in bodybuilding. Sociology of Sport Journal, 3(2), 112-133.
15.
Klein, A. M.
(1987). Fear and self-loathing in southern California: Narcissism and fascism in bodybuilding subculture. Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology, 10(2), 117-137.
16.
Klein, A. M.
(1993). Of muscles and men. Sciences, 33(6), 32-37.
17.
Lang, G. E.
, & Lang, K. (1983). The battle for public opinion: The president, the press, and the polls during Watergate. New York: Columbia University Press.
18.
Mackey-Kallis, S.
, & Hahn, D. (1994). Who's to blame for America's drug problem? The search for scapegoats in the war on drugs. Communication Quarterly, 42(1), 1-20.
19.
Mekolichick, J. T.
(1996). Anabolic-androgenic steroids: The construction of a social problem. Paper from the Society for the Study of Social Problems, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
20.
Merriam, J. E.
(1989). National media coverage of drug issues, 1983-1987. In P. Shoemaker (Ed.), Communication campaigns about drugs (pp. 21-28). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
21.
Pociello, C.
(1996). Sports between moderation and excess. Communications, 61, 21-39.
22.
Pritchard, D.
(1994). The news media and public policy agendas. In J. D. Kennamer (Ed.), Public opinion, the press, and public policy (pp. 103-112). Westport, CT: Praeger.
23.
Steroids in amateur and professional sports: The medical and social costs of steroid abuse: Hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate, 101st Cong., 1st and 2d Sess. (1989).
24.
Telander, R.
(1989, February 20). The death of an athlete. Sports Illustrated, pp. 68-78.
25.
Todd, T.
(1983, August 1). The steroid predicament. Sports Illustrated, pp. 62-77.
26.
Waddington, I.
(1996). The development of sports medicine. Sociology of Sport Journal, 13(2), 176-196.
27.
Yagade, A.
, & Dozier, D. M. (1990). The media agenda-setting effect on concrete versus abstract issues. Journalism Quarterly, 67, 3-10.
28.
Yesalis, C.
(1993). Anabolic steroids in sport and exercise. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
29.
Young, J.
(1981). The myth of drug takers in the mass media. In S. Cohen & J. Young (Eds.), The manufacture of news (pp. 326-334). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
30.
Zucker, H. G.
(1978). The variable nature of news media influence. In B. D. Rubin (Ed.), Communication yearbook 2 (pp. 225-240). Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
