Working as a sub editor at the Guardian around the time web stories started to become very popular – and the newspaper was losing £1m a week as print sales started to fade – was a quick education.

The volume of work we had to publish was so punishing that very little attention was given to details that were vital to make a story appeal to a reader. Captions, headlines, and, crucially, photos were slapped on quickly because senior editors would shout and curse for us taking too long. Big reveal: they refused to learn how to publish these stories.

Consequently, I remember using whatever photo I could find that sort of fitted the story, publishing and hoping for the best. Now 15 years later, I’d like to hope that things have changed, but when I read national health stories about alcohol abuse, I doubt it.

This is because nearly every time a sub publishes a story that looks at the harm alcohol causes, or the impact abuse can have on our society – all necessary reports, although beer writer Roger Protz argues here that they can be exaggerated – a photo of a pint is used.

And I write this with pain, not least as a writer should never anger a sub editor – our last line of defence and constant saviour!

Take the grim news that Scottish alcohol-related deaths have reached a 15-year-high. Out of the eight stories listed on Google News, six featured photos of beer – the errant two images were of a wine glass and a man necking a bottle of spirits. This in a country where beer is the third-most popular alcoholic drink behind – you guessed it – wine and spirits.

Google News also shows me the last two alcohol health photos used by the Guardian were ales and this beer bias is pretty much mirrored by every newspaper and website. The effect of this is to link beer – and not other beverages – with alcoholism, death and poor health.

Great for wine, whisky and rum etc and their marketing execs but terrible for beer – the lowest ABV of those drinks – and its image. Worst still, I would argue that beer, when drunk in moderation, can have intangible health benefits, such as bringing friendship groups together when enjoyed in a pub.

Some might say wine or whisky has this same effect but a nursed pint at the bar might be the only time we have in a third space when life is rushed. “How’s it pouring?” “Oh, you have Vintage Ale on? Popular?” “That looks a bit lively to me, John!” These are all beer conversations we’ve had and are glad to have and without them many risk social isolation.

And the inherent irony of that pint, and its enduring appeal, might even explain why so many photos are used in news stories: it’s such a beautiful drink to behold. It might even be a case of inherent bias as most subs I know are beer lovers, which suggests we could easily fix this...

I just wish that beer’s inherent elegance doesn’t always get intrinsically linked to reports of death, illness and violence. Because we lose so much by the media’s lazy caricaturing.