The media influence how we live--and die. Tobacco can kill us yet we continue to smoke. Drinking and driving is a lethal combination yet we continue to drive when inebriated. Poor diet slowly destroys us yet we continue to eat unhealthily. Why? Evolving from a national conference Mass Communication and Public Health examines why public information campaigns have achieved limited success and what can be done to improve their effectiveness. This up-to-date volume has a fourfold focus: