The Harvard Alcohol Project: Turning From Tragedy to Activism

When Boston TV news reporter Dennis Kauff was killed in a drunk driving accident three years ago, local reporters "were enraged," and decided to try to bring attention to the problem, says Jay A. Winsten, director of the Harvard Center for Health Communication and the Harvard Alcohol Project.

Winsten and others began a series of "working luncheons" at the center in which journalists, judges, lawyers scientists and others could discuss the issue of drunk driving.

From this ongoing series came, in 1986, one of the first designated driver programs in the country, sponsored by WBZ-TV and more than 200 Massachusetts restaurants. In this program, waiters explained the concept of the designated driver to customers and offered free non-alcoholic drinks to those who agreed to stay sober and drive their companions home.

Winsten also helped formulate new local public service announcements about the problem. According to Nance L. Guilmartin, national director of public affairs and station relations for Group W Television, which runs WBZ, Winsten and others hit upon the idea of "positive peer pressure," and focused on the designated driver, rather than simply on drunk driving.

And last December, thanks to the new emphasis on drunk driving, the Harvard Alcohol Project--which uses the media to fight drunk driving--was founded. Since the establishment of the Project, Winsten has continued to use WBZ as "a local television laboratory" for his national goals, says Giulmartin.

Although networks have donated time to the project's anti-drunk driving campaign, other financial concerns have been eased by grants from the Max Factor Family Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trust and the Commonwealth Fund totalling $1,000,000 over three years.

Penny Duckham, a spokesperson for The Commonwealth Fund, which gave $375,000 for research and assistance to a Massachusetts program that will use local TV and radio to combat drinking and driving, says, "We are delighted with success they've been having. There are pretty horrific figures about people killed by drunk driving. To the degree we can contribute, we are going to."