According to a recent poll just out, media employees count amongst England's heaviest drinkers.A survey carried out by the Department of Health found that media professionals drank about twice as much as the recommended allowance - an average of 44 units per week, instead of the suggested 21-28 units for men (depending on build), and 14-21 units for women. This is the equivalent of more than 4 bottles of wine or more than 19 pints of beer.

The government survey also found that media professionals drank at least 10 more units than the second-placed group of drinkers: IT workers.

Unfortunately, the government-lead research did not include any statistics on the country's MPs, although Dawn Primarolo, Public Health Minister, said: "After-work drinks are often part of working life. It's tempting to just go for 'a swift one', even when you know your body needs a rest. But, one can quickly turn into many." Given the recent expenses scandal that has emerged thanks to the Daily Telegraph, a few people have suggested that some members of parliament, unable to cope with the ongoing media scrutiny, may end up turning to the bottle.

Were Guardian journalists supposedly punch drunk when they defined "heavy drinkers as those who regularly consume at least twice the daily guidelines of 35 units a week for women and 50 for men"? They meant these figures are twice the recommended maximum allowance for women and men, respectively.

The notion of the binge-drinking journalist, for instance, is not new, as films such as the 1933 Picture Snatcher and 2007 film Zodiac (based on real life events) demonstrate. Both films feature news hacks suffering from alcohol abuse.

Recently, life imitated art when a Japanese journalist was discovered dead in his hotel room. He reportedly died from excessive drinking.

These latest figures show that heavy drinking is endemic within the media world, where entertaining clients often goes hand in hand with a stiff drink. Perhaps, the figures also reflect the mounting pressures that journalists face on a daily basis, as they struggle to deliver to short deadlines and reinvent themselves as multimedia journalists capable of dealing with a variety of media platforms.

Sources: Guardian.co.uk , Press Gazette , Word Press , China Daily.com