Media reporting on illicit drug use in Australia: Trends and youth attitudes toward media reporting

Drugs were highly pervasive in Australian newspapers. Indeed over the period 2003-2008 an average of 19 articles relating to drugs were published every day, and that was from a sample of 11 newspapers alone. Criminal justice and law enforcement topics overwhelmingly dominated print news media reporting on illicit drugs, with for example 55.2% of the sample denoting criminal justice action regarding users, dealers or traffickers. Despite common assumptions of “moral panic” and “sensationalism” regarding reporting on illicit drugs in the media, only 7.0% of the sample portrayed drugs as a crisis issue. Most articles were written with a neutral or bad moral evaluation about drugs (87.2%). The media differentially framed drug types in subtle ways. For example, heroin was framed most narrowly (i.e. discussed almost exclusively as a criminal justice issue) and amphetamine was most portrayed using a bad moral evaluation of drugs and as a crisis issue. Between 2003 and 2008 patterns of reporting shifted slightly with, for example, an increase in reporting of social problems associated with drug use.

As predicted media reporting was capable of influencing youth attitudes to drugs, at least in the short term. With only one exception, media increased perceptions of risk, reduced perceptions of acceptability, and reduced the reported likelihood of future drug use. Effects were largest for females (compared to males), non users (compared to recent users and non-recent users), and those who denoted themselves as less interested in/susceptible to drug use. The type of portrayal affected the size and direction of impact. For example, negative portrayals of the health consequences of drug use (e.g. mental health problems), were more likely to reduce perceptions of risk than portrayals of law enforcement action.

Implications for policy: This study provides the first clear evidence that illicit drugs are highly pervasive in Australian print news media and are disproportionately portrayed in a criminal justice context. While the focus has been on print media, there is merit in believing that this imbalance in reporting holds true for other Australian news media. Disparity in media reporting serves to narrow opportunities for informed drug policy debate as framing affects the type of policy solutions that can be explored, as well as public perceptions of norms and risks associated with drugs, their use and those who use them.
This study further suggests that mainstream news media can play a role in current and future dissemination of prevention and harm reduction messages. But given that the dominant messages are not those deemed most persuasive to Australian youth this research suggests that the preventative role is currently being stymied. A clear opportunity thus exists to increase engagement with media outlets about the short and long term harms from drug use. Taking advantage of this opportunity will demand increased investment in advocacy and public relations capabilities and more strategic targeting about illicit drug issues.

Implications for research: There is a need to replicate the current media content analysis across other forms of news media and to assess the impacts of news media portrayals on attitudes in real world settings, to measure impacts on use per se and to assess impacts of non-mainstream media e.g. films on attitudes.