The introduction notes that research has moved beyond measuring the extent of media portrayals of drinking and alcohol to a concern about how to measure audience interpretations of media materials. It also summarizes four contrasting perspectives that can form the basis of studies of alcohol in the media. One research paper shows how alcohol's images in blues music during the 1920's mostly reflected the negative experiences of the long-term heavy drinker, in contrast to alcohol's glamorous image among white college students of that period. Additional papers demonstrate that alcohol references were common in most television program categories in Finland's television programs in 1983 and that family members and friends often displayed counterproductive responses to alcoholic characters in comedies and dramas on television in the United States between 1976 and 1986. Another paper shows how alcohol references on prime-time television in the United States provide a context for action, build characterizations, and serve as an element in plot development. Two additional papers examine the methodological inadequacies of current research on the content and effects of television images of alcohol and suggest alternative approaches. Tables, notes, and chapter references.