How Does
the Scottish Media Report Drugs & Drug Users?
While public opinion is shifting to a more
liberal approach toward drug policies around the world, how does the media
report on drugs and drug users and how do the public feel about the news
media’s approach to reporting drugs and drug users?
August 2018
Credit: cnynews.com
Abstract
This dissertation explores the different ways in which Scottish newspapers report on illicit drugs and their users, recreational or otherwise. This is one section of a larger research study which also involves drug policies and further academic research into the use of study pills.
The research that follows shows the differences between the public’s view of drugs and drug use, the news media’s stance on drugs and drug use, the differences between groups of the public with regards to drugs and drug use and the differences between a range of British and Scottish newspapers.
Introduction
The aims of this dissertation are portrayed in the research questions below:
RQ1 – How does the Scottish news media report on drugs and drug users?
RQ2 – How does the public view drugs and drug users? Do different groups in society (gender etc.) think differently about drugs and drug users?
RQ3 – Does the public and the news media’s viewpoint on drugs and drug users coincide or differ?
The following research has been split into 4 main sections. The first chapter is a literature review consisting of the importance of the chosen subject, the historical background of the media’s representation of drugs and drug users and the theoretical debates being discussed.
The second chapter will explain the research methods used for this study, why they were chosen and why they are effective methods when studying this topic.
The third chapter will outline the results of the research methods carried out through statistics and graphics. It will also discuss these findings and consider comparisons and correlations with regards to the literature review and possible differences between public opinion and newspaper coverage.
The fourth chapter will consist of conclusions that may be drawn from this research and recommendations for future research as well as issues that can be identified with the following research.
Literature Review
It is the intention of this review to show current changes in public opinion and drug policies internationally, the importance of the subject, what previous research has been conducted, the academic and theoretical opinions regarding the issue and to define terms crucial to the research.
Why the topic is important
Public opinion and perceptions towards drug use have changed over the last 20 years, “Nearly one in three British adults has taken an illegal substance and a fifth of those still do so…” The study conducted by Opinium Research also found that 61% believed that certain drugs that are currently illegal should be either decriminalised or legalised (Opinium, 2014 cited Mann, J. 2014). There has been a paradigm shift in countries, such as Portugal, Czech Republic and some states in the US. Portugal decriminalised the use of all drugs in 2001, drug use is not an offence in the Czech Republic and “thirty states and the District of Columbia currently have laws broadly legalizing marijuana in some form” (Governing.com, 2018). These policies show positive results. Evidence shows a decrease in drug overdoses and HIV diagnoses in Portugal as shown in Appendix 1. It is important to examine other countries and their drug policies as this could have an effect on the UK or Scotland’s public opinion on the subject which could influence the way drugs and drug users are reported on in the news media. It is also vital to examine public opinion so that comparisons can be made between the news media and public perceptions (RQ3). The media plays a major role when influencing the public’s political views,
“In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position.” (McCombs, M. and Shaw, D. 1972, p 1).
Thus, the news media also plays a considerable role in how the public view drug users by their focus on the issue. Film and TV also plays a role in how the public view drug use. “The conventional view is that psychoactive drugs are an avenue of escape into fantasy and the cinematic portrayal of drug effects and drug users has usually reflected this view” (Starks, M. 2015, p 9). But what should also be considered is the news media. Journalistic ethics require news journalists to report stories as objectively as possible and to follow news values to give the public a balanced perception of up to date world news. Reuters News’ Handbook for Journalism defines media bias and objectivity whilst portraying how journalists would control bias,
“As Reuters journalists, we never identify with any side in an issue, a conflict or a dispute. Our text and visual stories need to reflect all sides, not just one… Thinking about language can only improve our writing and our journalism.” (Handbook.reuters.com, 2018)
Before research can be conducted regarding drug use and the media, the terms recreational drug use and drug abuse must be defined and differentiated. The term drug abuse is normally applied to “excessive and addictive use of drugs” (Steiner, 2016, p 1), whereas “recreational drug use is the use of drugs for pleasure or leisure” (DrugWise, n.d.). The form of drugs being examined are illicit drugs which are “…comprised of those drugs that are illegal to process, sell, and consume” (WorkPlaceTesting.com, n.d.). The focus of the research will be the recreational use of illicit drugs as well as dependence of illicit drugs.
Since “a total of 867 drug-related deaths were registered in Scotland in 2016…161 (23%) more than in 2015…” (Nrscotland.gov.uk, 2017), it is clearer that drug-related deaths and overdoses involving drugs is a rising issue in Scotland and has been since the 1990s, making the Scottish media’s portrayal of stories involving these issues prone to criticism. In a study on the representation of illegal drug-related deaths in Scotland in the 1990s, it was found
“…that some drugs were more likely to be mentioned in newspaper stories concerning drug deaths than others. Moreover, atypical drug fatalities, such as those involving teenage females or ‘recreational’ drugs, especially ‘ecstasy’ received a disproportionate amount of press attention…. these biases may have serious implications for public opinion, social policy and drug education” (Forsyth, A. 2001, p 435).
There has been research into the way the media conveys its impression of drugs, drug users and drug policies. Academics in the drug policy community such as Forsyth believe drug users are demonised by the British and Scottish press and even the majority of the public share this view (RQ1 & RQ2).
In order to conduct a detailed literature review, it is important to consider a wide range of contributing topics to this debate as well as a variety of viewpoints and research. So, the following issues will be addressed:
· The Historical background of drug prohibition and the media’s influence.
· The debate on whether drug users have been demonised by the news media and those who believe otherwise.
· General conclusions that can be drawn by analysing statistics regarding the first research question.
Historical Background
The historical context will help identify the core of the media’s representation of drug use in the past, which will contextualise the first research question. It will also identify ways in which the media has influenced public perceptions in the UK and the US which will portray how the public viewed drugs and drug users in the past. It is imperative to discuss and compare the UK and US media to provide a wider context of how other countries news media reported on drugs and drug users in the past, to compare and contrast with how the news media report on drugs and users now (RQ1).
The stigmatisation of various drugs has not always existed around the world.
“Up until the early 1900s, all known psychoactive substances, including those now classified as ‘controlled substances,’ were legally and readily available all over the world and did not need a black market.” (Dhywood, J. 2015, p 3).
However, in 1914 the Harrison Act made all non-prescribed opiates illegal. As a consequence, this “marked the point at which all narcotic addicts came to be defined by society as criminal deviants…” (Bellis, 1981, p 388). It has been noted that some drugs were associated with some unpopular nations, this can be conveyed by the association of Chinese immigrants and the use of opium. In the US, Chinese workers were associated with being hard working, however after various economic issues which led to competition with white workers,
“Print media disseminated sensational reports about ‘yellow fiends’ in opium dens coercing white women to become enslaved to the drug, and stories circulated about ‘Chinese men drugging white women into sexual slavery.” (Levine & Reinarman, 1987, p 388 cited Orsini, M. 2015, p 11).
The media played a role in influencing the public’s perception of drug use due to wartime xenophobia as Chinese immigrants were associated with cocaine and opium dealing in Britain.
Towards the start of the second world war, further racism enforced by the media was created to deter the use of drugs. “In the 1930s, media sources reported that marijuana caused violent behaviour, with Mexican immigrant labourers identified as the disreputable demographic.” (Levine & Reinarman, 1987, p 388-390; Reinarman & Duskin, 1992, 73-87 cited Orsini, M. 2015, p 12).
“In the early 1960s, the first reports about the activities of young heroin users began to appear in British newspapers ...” (BMA, 2013, p 90). “Increasing media and professional evidence of a heroin epidemic in Britain involving younger heroin users led to a Second Interdepartmental Committee on Drug Addiction…” (BMA, 2013, p 90).
The American government declared a war on drugs, leading to the British media similarly depicting drug users as criminals and discriminated against ethnic minorities. In 1974, “Hartmann and Husband found that British news tends to portray many general social problems as dilemmas involving or caused by blacks.” (Hartman and Husband, 1974 cited Entman, R. 1992, p 344).
“There was widespread media coverage of this new wave of heroin use, and drug use became an important and sustained policy issue for the first time since the 1960s.” (Haber, P, 2013 90-91).
Furthermore, in the 1990s the so called “Trainspotting generation” was born with heroin use and abuse on the rise as well as HIV and AIDS leading to fabricated and untrue stories on IV use and AIDS. “These articles repeated dangerous myths — most irresponsibly, that IV-drug users share needles because they like to do so and therefore would not respond to being given clean ones to reduce risk.” (Szalavitz, M 2010).
The background of the media’s portrayal of drugs and drug use is imperative before studying the media’s portrayal in more recent years as it has provided a context to the fundamental issue of the media’s failure in the past to report on drug use neutrally and factually (RQ1). It will also provide research for comparison with the methodology in this dissertation.
The Theoretical Debate
“While news outlets have limited space to dedicate to issues, illicit drugs are clearly newsworthy” (Lancaster et al., 2010), p 1). As important as the reporting of illicit drugs are, the debate continues about whether the news media demonise drugs and users. “Depictions of drugs and drug users which utilize alarmist rhetoric have been prevalent in media discourse and have targeted allegedly disreputable populations.” (Orsini, M, 2015 p 3). Others have “…proposed that news media and governmental beliefs mirror each other and have both adopted a stance that serious or `problematic' drug use is dangerous and causes further criminality.” (Taylor, S, 2008, p Abstract). There are commentators who believe the opposite – that drug users are portrayed in either a more sympathetic or positive way – and some believe that the media, particularly magazines are influencing young people as “magazines and entertainment shows are full of celebrity icons who are seen doing drugs.” (Best Drug Rehabilitation. 2015). However, many arguments that disagree, with the premise that drug users are demonized by the media, tend to focus on the youth. “Many…forms of mass media show young people using and enjoying substances without negative consequences” (Tackett, n.d.).
However, these arguments that disagree with the premise that drug users are demonized by the media also tend to focus on sectors of the media out with the news media’s depiction of drug users.
It is also important to discuss how much influence the news media has in generating change, “Research from other fields has demonstrated that media reporting on tobacco, body image and violence can elicit short and long-term change in attitudes and behaviour” (Lancaster et al., 2010, p 1). So, it can be argued that the news media’s reporting on illicit drugs can elicit change in public opinion and attitudes (RQ2).
There are many proven ways in which the news media have negatively depicted drugs and drugs users, “Where the effects of drug use were mentioned in news items for either the community or the individual, these were overwhelmingly negative” (UKDPC, 2010, p 7). The report published by the UK Drug Policy Commission contains research results of a content analysis of newspaper coverage. A Summary of their research can be seen at Appendix 2.
It portrayed that positive stories dealing with rehabilitation for example are rarely reported on.
As comprehensive as this report is, the gap in research with regards to this topic is the news media’s reporting more recently as drug policy conversation is becoming more progressive around the world. Others agree with the news media’s failure to report drugs and their users,
“…the print media in the UK employ almost no quality control mechanisms to ensure that such reporting takes place and that they predominately rely on the demonstrably insufficient qualities of the ‘good reporting’ skills that journalists bring to their research and writing” (Coomber, Morris and Dunn, 2000, p 1).
It can be argued that the majority of the current debate on representation of drugs and users in the media is mostly negative so it is imperative to continue this discussion and reveal if this negative approach to the subject can still be applied. The research and methodology that follows will portray if news media reporting on drug users in Scotland is following the cultural shift in drug policy opinion or if it is maintaining the same negative approach. This will answer all 3 research questions by portraying how the public view drugs and users, how the media represent drugs and users and if the media and public opinion differs.
Methodology
Introduction
A wide range of research methods, including focus groups and interviews could be used. “Internet-based surveys are now in vogue-those conducted via the web in particular-because of three assumptions: (1) Internet-based surveys are much cheaper to conduct; (2) Internet-based surveys are fast; and (3) when combined with other survey modes, Internet-based surveys yield higher response rates…” (Fricker and Schonlau, 2012), p 348). With this in mind, an online survey was conducted. In order to discuss news media agenda, a content analysis was chosen.
“Content analysis goes outside the immediately observable physical vehicles of communication and relies on their symbolic qualities to trace the antecedents, correlates or consequences of communication, thus rendering the context of data analyzable” (Krippendor, 1989, p 403).
The researcher conducted a content analysis of Scottish and British online newspapers and their treatment of one story. These research methods were chosen to compare the results effectively to gain a better understanding of how newspapers and their readership treat the subject.
Content Analysis Measures
The approaches used were both qualitative and quantitative to ensure the research gained both numerical and language based data. The method used for the content analysis was the same for each newspaper in order for the results to be reliable. This method would display how the Scottish news media represent drugs and their users presently (RQ1).
Online news articles were examined instead of archived print newspapers due to an increase in popularity, “…with television news and online news the most frequently accessed, while readership of printed newspapers has declined significantly” (Reuters Institute, 2017, p 10). In order to gain an understanding of how Scottish newspapers treated a story compared to British newspapers, three Scottish newspapers and three British newspapers were selected to compare the content of the articles, the images used and the frequency of articles produced. Furthermore, a range of newspapers were selected with the political spectrum considered to create far reaching results that reflect each political stance of the newspapers chosen.
The Scottish newspapers included a ‘red top’, a tabloid and a broadsheet and included a range of political affiliations:
· The Scottish Sun –This was chosen due to its indecisive political stance “The Sun has supported Labour, the Tories and the SNP within the last five years, and we simply don’t think it’s possible to accurately or fairly pin it on either end of the spectrum” (Campbell, 2012).
· The Scotsman - Due to its neutral stance on political issues, as the editor Frank O’Donnell states, “We are not going to support any particular political party in any referendum or election” (Ponsford, 2017).
· The Daily Record – This was chosen due to its left-wing nature. Evidence of this comes from “…the party (Labour) also received £10,000 from the Daily Record” (HeraldScotland, 2007). Its high readership and circulation figures in Scotland of “144,000” weekday sales in 2017 (Fraser, 2017) was also a factor. This was important as the readership can be correlated with the newspapers influence on public perception.
The British newspapers were as follows:
· The Sun – This was chosen due to its right wing, red top affiliations as well as producing a tabloid perspective. “Bottom line is this tabloid reports…stories with a right-wing bias” (Media Bias/Fact Check, 2017).
· The Guardian – “…the Guardian is seen as Britain’s most left-wing newspaper” (Smith, 2017).
· The Independent – This was chosen due to its centrist political stance as proven by a YouGov study into “Britons’ view on where mainstream national newspapers sit on the left-right political spectrum…” which found “the Independent was the only newspaper that was seen as broadly centrist…” (Smith, 2017).
The methods for analysis were then chosen. The content analysis included consideration of language, images and frequency of articles published.
The language of the articles would be analysed in order to understand how each newspaper treated the story, “...media language is easier to collect than conversation. It is there in large quantities…media language is already intended for mass public consumption….” (Thogmartin and Bell, 1994, p 2).
The images used in each article were also investigated as “…there are those who think the image is an extremely rudimentary system in comparison with language and those who think signification cannot exhaust the image’s ineffable richness” (Barthes and Heath, 1977, p 32). A quantitative approach was used to gain scientific, largely indisputable results. The frequency of articles written regarding the chosen subject was studied. This was used to portray which newspapers considered the story more important.
A subject or story had to be chosen to determine how each newspaper treats stories regarding illicit drugs and their users presently. A story that was frequently reported on had to be chosen as well as a local story to produce results that show how British news outlets report on drug use. The story that was chosen was MP’s and health officials backing the introduction of safe drug consumption rooms in Glasgow, in response to “…the high risk of drug-related death, rates of which have increased significantly in Glasgow in recent years” (Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, n.d.). It is also in response to success rates in other countries, “This method of treatment is legal in the UK, having been trialed in London, Darlington and Brighton and is already widely used in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland” (Glasgow.gov.uk, 2016). This portrays the impact other countries’ drug policies and public perceptions can have on Scotland’s policies, signifying the importance of discussing other countries’ drug policies and media’s depiction of drug users. The time span in which the articles were published was between 2016 and 2018. The reasons for this story being researched were as follows:
· It’s local, so to the results will show how different newspapers on a story regarding Scotland/Britain.
· The timeframe allows the researcher to analyse the frequency of articles written for each newspaper over a two-year period.
· There are various reasons that would trigger an article about this subject such as the introduction of the idea for safe drug consumptions rooms as well as the site for the rooms being identified. So, this would identify how newspapers handle the progression of the story.
Content Analysis Method
To determine which articles would be used, the researcher followed specific criteria when choosing articles, which was the main topic of the article had to be the proposed plans for drug consumption rooms in Glasgow.
To establish the number of articles each news outlet published on the subject, two searches were conducted. A search engine was used to explore the top results for each newspaper. The search was, ‘drug consumption room Glasgow (name of newspaper).’ Then the researcher investigated five result pages searching for relevant articles. The researcher then searched on each news outlet website, ‘drug consumption room Glasgow’ to show the results specific to each news outlet, to verify all articles relevant to the subject were found. After each article was found, they were printed and split into two piles of British and Scottish newspapers. Each article was counted to determine the frequency to which each newspaper reported on the story.
The images used for each article were then analysed. This involved writing down everything that could be seen in each image and describing what the image contained. Each image was then compared for objective elements such as brightness and colour. The implications of the images were also examined as “…photographs could have an affective influence on readers, changing readers' opinions regarding their perceptions of the impact of accompanying stories” (Wanta, 1993, p 2).
In order to analyse the language used, the researcher chose two colours of highlighter. One for positive words and the other for negative. In order to produce thorough results, the researcher highlighted every negative and positive word throughout the article regardless of context. To decide the criteria for what would constitute positive and negative language to produce consistent results the researcher chose specific words used frequently throughout every newspaper article that would be associative words due to their subjectivity. These words were chosen as per they are subjective as what one person might see as negative, another might see as neutral, however, these words may also yield connotations that could be perceived as negative. Which, could expose a newspaper’s viewpoint on the chosen subject. An associative word “… represents a result of generalization of the conditioned connection in which similar stimuli evoke similar reactions.” (Wordassociations.net, 2018). For example, associations with the word ‘addict’ could be “heroin” or “cocaine” (Wordaddociations.net, 2018) The associative words chosen were as follows:
· Addict
· Inject
· Infect
· Inhale
These would be considered separately to yield further information regarding the newspaper’s stance.
To determine what would constitute positive language, the following criteria was used:
· If the word had medical connotations
· If the word had an aid like or health and safety implication
· If the word implied an authoritative opinion such as an MP/doctor
· If the word inferred freedom
· If the word used for taking drugs was out with the use of the words injecting/inhaling
To determine what constituted a negative word the following criteria was created:
· If the word was slang or had visceral connotations such as ‘fix’
· If the word denounced the plans for these rooms
· If the word had worrisome/angry connotations
To produce reliable results, every negative and positive word was not used as this would be disregarding the context with which the word was used. After every negative and positive word was highlighted, the researcher then crossed out negative words that were used in a context of defending the plans for the drug consumption rooms. Positive language was also crossed out if it was used to disagree with the plans. This method was used in order to portray what stance each newspaper would take and to portray if impartiality is prevalent in each article.
Online Survey Measures
This approach was used “…to collect large amounts of data efficiently and economically within relatively short time frames” (Lefever, Dal and Matthíasdóttir, 2007, p 575). It would also show how the public view the news media’s approach to reporting on drugs and their users (RQ2). This would enable the researcher to compare between the media’s ideology on drugs and drug users and the public’s stance on drugs and drug users to show if the media is publishing with regards to the public interest (RQ3). It was important to produce a survey that would portray a range of correlations or differences between groups of society such as age and gender (RQ2). So, questions were asked in order to comprehend how different societal groups think with regards to drug use. The target of this survey was to retrieve a relatively large, broad group of respondents that would be representative of the whole population. This was successful as the survey retrieved 109 responses.
Google Doc’s was selected for the online survey. This enabled the researcher to ask as many questions as needed without a payment. This system produced basic statistics created by responses, such as the percentage of males compared to females, so this gave the researcher more time to concentrate on more specific data. Other measures that had to be considered included the distribution of the survey to maximise responses and to ensure a range of respondents would take part. As the majority of the population have Facebook accounts, this was used as a starting point. This would ensure a large number of respondents in a small amount of time. However, the majority of respondents would be of a younger age group as statistics show “the older the people in an age group, the lower user numbers become” (Statista, 2018). The researcher intended to retrieve approximately 60 respondents aged 16-24, 10 25-34 year olds, 10 35-44 year olds, 10 45-54 year olds and 10 respondents aged 55 and over. This would produce results that could portray differences of opinion in terms of age. Although, once the survey had been posted for 2 weeks, it produced 70 respondents aged 16-24 years old, 14 respondents aged 25-34, 3 respondents aged 35-44, 3 respondents aged 45-54 and 1 respondent aged 55 and over. So, in order to gain a wider range of age groups, the researcher distributed flyers amongst South Queensferry in shops and cafes during the afternoon to ensure middle-aged people such as parents to retired people would respond.
Online Survey Method
To produce a wide-ranging set of results that could be analysed, the researcher used questions to show correlations/differences amongst groups in society. The following factors were used when writing questions for the survey:
· Gender – Is there a difference between how genders view how drugs and their users are shown in the media?
· Age – Does background/generation have an impact on one’s views on drugs in the media?
· Political stance – This would show if a political stance can impact someone’s opinion on the media’s reporting of drug use and could portray if the newspapers that represent each political affiliation represent the viewpoints of their readers
· Drug use and frequency of use – This would portray if the amount or frequency of a person’s drug use would impact their opinions on how the media treat drugs.
These are factors that could possibly influence how one feels about the media’s impact on the public’s perception of drugs and their use.
Questions regarding how each respondent felt about the media’s representation of illicit drugs and their users also had to be written. Firstly, the researcher sought to differentiate between how the media represent drugs specifically and the different types of users. This would be done be asking how the respondent feels the media report on illicit drugs, recreational drug users and drug addicts. This would allow the researcher to see if the public think there’s a difference between how the media portrays drugs and these types of users. Lastly, the news media outlets the public trust was then asked, to gain a perspective of news media outlets that are trusted amongst the public to report drugs and drug users.
The questions used for the online survey can be seen at Appendix 3.
After 109 respondents took part, the amount of 16-24 year olds compared to the amount of over 30 year olds was still large as “young adults are the most highly connected age group…” (Hargittai and Hinnant, 2008, p abstract). With less time constraints, the researcher would have the freedom to gain a more varied age bracket of respondents.
The analysis involved uploading all responses to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to examine the results and portray the correlations and differences shown in the results. This was done by tallying, for example, how many males believed drugs are reported in the media fairly compared to females.
Online Newspaper Findings
After conducting the newspaper analysis, it was clear that the research hypothesis was not entirely proven. The researcher’s hypotheses were as follows:
· The number of articles written about the subject would vary amongst the newspapers depending on location or political stance etc.
· The images used would all be different portraying each newspapers viewpoint on the subject and their reporting on drugs and drug users
· The language used would differ between each newspaper to show their viewpoint on drugs and drug users and would show the newspaper’s viewpoint on drug policy
These hypotheses, when answered, will answer the first research question of how the media report on drugs and users. Some of these predictions would prove to be incorrect, whereas parts of each specific hypothesis would prove to be correct. The researcher found that the differences between each newspaper were subtler than first anticipated.
Producing the frequency of articles written for each newspaper gave the researcher more time to examine the images and language as it took little time to analyse. Lastly, analysing the language proved to be difficult as the context of each word highlighted had to be resolved to provide reliable results and to discuss the article’s stance.
Content Analysis
The analysis of these findings will follow to answer the first research question and show how the Scottish news media report on drugs and users. It will also portray the comparisons of how the media report on drugs and users presently compared to in the past. The analysis of the online newspaper findings will either show the similarities between the news media presently and the news media in the past or show a change in how the news media portray drugs and users.
Frequency of articles
These findings portray that the localized, Scottish newspapers covered the story more than the British news outlets. However, it was surprising to see a British newspaper (The Independent) publish more stories on the chosen subject than a Scottish newspaper (The Sun). This suggests the Scottish Sun does not consider this story as important to publish as the Independent. This result shows the politically centred newspaper (The Independent) treats this story more liberally whereas the Scottish Sun, which has not had a definite political stance for more than a few years has treated the story more conservatively and has not published the story as many times. Another surprising result from this method was that a left-wing newspaper, The Guardian, published this story the least alongside a right wing British newspaper, The Sun. This can be linked back to the theory that “…news outlets have limited space to dedicate to issues…” (Lancaster et al., 2010), p 1). So perhaps the Guardian and The Sun do not see the chosen subject as newsworthy as they have not dedicated as much space as the other newspapers. A predictable result was the Daily Record’s frequency figure as a left-wing outlet, it has clearly treated this story liberally by publishing the story the most. The last observation from this method was the Scotsman, which in recent years has adopted a centre/right-wing stance reported this story the second highest number of times suggesting it considers this story important enough to publish its developments. These findings show that there is a difference between how news media outlets report on drugs and users’ due to the inconsistencies of how often each newspaper published an article on the subject (RQ1).
Image Analysis
At first the images seemed to be similar, however, after the researcher looked closely and wrote everything contained in the image down, it became easier to contrast the images used in each article.
The Sun’s use of a black table as seen in Appendix 4 suggests a dark subject and the white powder, syringe and dirty spoon has unhygienic connotations which insinuates criminality and an insanitary, unhealthy occupation with regards to drug addicts which shows how The Sun views dug users.
The Guardian’s image choice as seen in Appendix 5 suggests further insanitary practice compared to the image used in The Sun. This is a surprising result as the Guardian is renowned for being a left-wing newspaper however, the frequency of articles written coupled with the imagery used to portray the subject of the article suggests a conservative treatment of the topic. However, it could be argued that the reason such a dark, unclean image has been used is to portray the current issue of people consuming drugs in this unhygienic way which could be a persuasive technique to make the reader believe that safe drug consumption rooms are a good idea. This is unclear until the language analysis is conducted, however, the image used on its own does conjure up connotations of uncleanliness and darkness.
The Independent’s use of the white table in the image seen in Appendix 6 suggests a purity and cleanliness which shows the Independent’s liberal viewpoint on the subject coupled with the most articles published on the subject within the British newspaper results.
The Scottish Sun’s image choice in Appendix 8 creates an emotional response as it gives the reader a visceral reaction as a large proportion of the population have a fear of needles so it would create a strong reaction from that group of society. The darkness suggests a small room. The action of holding a syringe out in front of you suggests peer pressure.
The Daily Record’s image choice of someone heating up a substance produces a similar reaction to that as seen from the Scottish Sun’s image choice. However, this image and the image of a professor on Appendix 10 contrast each other as the image of a professor suggests an intelligent and authoritative figure, however, images of dirty apparatus suggests uncleanliness. However, the use of a medical syringe in Appendix 11 is similar to images used by the Independent as it has medical and clean connotations which indicates that the Daily Record may be for the proposed plans if it involves medically appropriate help. So, it is difficult to pinpoint how the Daily Record report on drugs and users as its image choices are inconsistent.
The image The Scotsman uses of someone reaching for a syringe as seen in Appendix 12 suggests desperation, which portrays people with drug dependencies as desperate and in need. Appendix 13 can be linked back to the 1914 Harrison Act which “…marked the point at which all narcotic addicts came to be defined by society as criminal deviants (Dhywood, J. 2015, p 3). The Scotsman’s image of a police car suggests that drug users are criminal suggesting drug users should be caught and prosecuted. This portrays that little has changed since 1914 with regards to how drug users are considered criminals. However, the image the Scotsman uses of an MP has similar connotations to the image of a professor in the Daily Record suggesting intelligence.
Language Analysis
The language used showed similarity amongst every newspaper with regards to the treatment of the subject. The order of information provided which included quotes were similar and the types of words used was prevalent in many articles. Some newspapers were inconsistent with the language used from article to article but overall the newspapers treated the story similarly in terms of language. This could be a reflection of how the public view drugs or of the shift in drug policies globally.
The language findings for The Sun portrays a positive viewpoint with regards to safe drug consumption rooms in the article. However, the frequent use of the word ‘inject’ has a visceral connotation, so it could be argued that this article is trying to produce a disgusted response at drug dependant users.
The Guardian’s use of ‘fix’ has ‘on the street’ connotations. Although, the frequency of the word ‘facility’ has medical connotations, which suggests a more balanced treatment compared to The Sun, however, it does still lean towards a positive pro drug consumption room article. The use of the word ‘addict’ has desperate connotations portraying how The Guardian wants the reader to view drug users.
The Independent’s results portray an inconsistency with the amount of negative language used, however, every article is more positive than negative. This shows the viewpoint of the Independent is mostly for the drug consumption rooms with one balanced article. This shows a lack of balance amongst the first two articles published as they are overwhelmingly positive.
The use of the word ‘addict’ consistently expresses The Independent attempting to create the image of someone injecting a drug. This could be argued as attempting to persuade people to agree with the consumption rooms by keeping drug users safe or it could be persuading the reader by putting the image of someone injecting drugs to disgust them. Due to the context, the word was used in each article, the researcher concluded that it is the former. This shows that all British newspapers mostly treat drugs and drug users positively suggesting a change compared to the historical context of the media’s reporting of drugs and drug users.
Figures 10 and 11 show the Scottish Sun was positive throughout both articles and seem to be pro drug consumption rooms. With ‘inject’ being the most commonly used associative word, it seems the Scottish Sun has taken a similar approach to the Independent in one of the articles.
The Scotsman’s results show consistency. All were more positive than negative. However, it also shows inconsistency as in the last article none of the associative words were used.
The Daily Record findings illustrate a consistent treatment of the subject with the majority being positive with the exception of the second article which adopted a more balanced approach however every article definitely has a pro drug consumption room stance. These results show consistency amongst associative language as the articles used ‘inject’ or ‘addict’ the most frequently. These have similar effects to those portrayed by The Guardian and The Independent.
The considerable amount of positive language used in every news media outlet’s articles shows a change to how news media outlets report on drugs and drug users as the UKDPC found in 2010, “Where the effects of drug use were mentioned in news items for either the community or the individual, these were overwhelmingly negative” (UKDPC, 2010, p 7). In terms of language used, the findings show the opposite of the UKDPC’s report, as every newspaper article analysed used more positive language than negative when discussing drug use.
Some of the hypotheses have been proven whilst some were proven wrong. The frequency of articles written did vary from newspaper to newspaper and the images used seem similar but did contrast subtly. However, the language used produced a surprising result as every article was similarly positive which proved the last hypothesis wrong.
Survey Analysis
This analysis aims to provide the answer to the second research question, to show how the public view drugs and drug users and to portray similarities and differences between different societal groups.
In general terms, Figures 24 – 26 illustrate that the majority of the public believe drugs, recreational drug users and drug addicts are treated unfairly in the news media. The majority of the public think the news media’s reporting on drugs and drug users has either a negative or very negative impact on how the public view drugs and drug users. This can be referred back to the statistic, “nearly one in three British adults has taken an illegal substance” (Mann, J. 2014), if such a significant portion of the public in Britain use an illegal substance, it is likely they will believe drugs and users not reported in the media fairly.
The majority of males and females believe that drugs and drug users are not treated fairly by the news media and the impact of this is negative, however, the most notable results with regards to gender was that males seemed to trust more media outlets than females. However, the only other significant result showed that more females answered, ‘not sure’ than men suggesting an indecisiveness amongst females.
Figures 29 – 33 display that all ages groups mainly believe that drugs are not reported objectively in the news media in Scotland, however some of the respondents from the youngest age bracket believe drugs are treated fairly, whereas none of the other age groups answered yes. The age bracket that answered overwhelmingly no was 35-44 year olds. The results from the 45-54 year olds portrays an uncertainty about the treatment of drugs by the media with half answering no and the other half answering not sure. This portrays there is a difference between the societal group of age brackets as only some of the youngest age bracket answered ‘yes’ compared to none of the other age brackets. The question regarding drug addicts retrieved similar results to the previous two questions with the youngest age bracket being the most sympathetic with how the news media portray drug addicts however as the age grows the less agreeable the respondents become with how the news media portray drug addicts.
Figure 35 illustrates that the Conservatives are the only party that believe drugs are treated fairly in the media, whereas every other party shows the same pattern that more respondents believe drugs are not treated fairly in the media. The Liberal Democrats have portrayed a more liberal approach with the biggest percentage of respondents answering no. SNP and Labour are extremely similar with regards to the percentages of respondents who answering yes, no and not sure.
Further evidence of the respondents that voted Conservative going against the trend of the other political stances is shown as more Conservative voters answered yes, saying recreational drug users are treated fairly in the news media. There was also more Green Voters who were not sure about the question, defining a certain indecisiveness. This is further evidence that societal groups think differently about drugs and drug users. The percentages amongst the other political parties were very similar to the previous question portraying most respondents did not see a significant difference between how recreational drug users are reported on and how drug addicts are reported on. It could be argued that the reason The Conservatives believe drugs and drug users are treated fairly by the media is due to the UK government being Conservative and “the Conservative Party’s manifesto briefly addresses drug use, and frames it primarily within a criminal justice context” (Tharoor, 2017). With this theory in mind, perhaps Conservative voters have little sympathy for drug users as they believe they should be criminalised not helped. The impact of the news media question showed that some SNP and Conservative voters may correlate with the news media outlets viewpoint as they were the only two parties in which a couple of respondents answered that the impact was either neutral or positive. The results of the language analysis showed that every news media outlet used more positive language so some respondents showed similar viewpoints.
Since the majority of each political affiliation answered ‘no’, they do not trust any news media outlet to report objectively, this suggests, perhaps, many respondents still believe the news media treats drugs and drug users similarly to the historical context. However, Labour and SNP voters seemed to trust more news media outlets than the other parties offering examples such as BBC, The Guardian and Vice.
Figure 37 illustrates that the more drugs someone has used the more strongly they feel recreational drug users are not treated fairly by the media. This could be argued that this is due to more experience with drug use or the idea that they themselves are recreational drug users. Figure 39 shows as the number of drugs used increases, the number of respondents who answered yes decreases.
The findings regarding drug addicts also showed the more drugs someone has used the more respondents answered no, drug addicts are not treated fairly in the media.
Another statement that can be made is the more drugs someone has used, the more negatively, they feel, the news media’s impact on public perception is. Figure 40 portrays the more drugs used, the less positive the respondents feel the news media’s impact on public perceptions is.
Figure 39 portrays those who hardly ever use illicit drugs and those who use drugs everyday retrieved similar results, and those who use illicit drugs once a month and once a week retrieved similar results as every respondent from those two groups answered no, drugs are not treated fairly in the media. Also, those who use drugs less than once a month trust more news media outlets than those who use drugs every day. This suggests the less someone uses an illicit drug the more trust they have in news media outlets to report drugs and drug use fairly. Those who use drugs every day, however, have more experience with drug use and may be more knowledgeable in the reporting of their group.
In terms of the hypotheses made previously, all were proven to be correct. The majority of the public showed little trust in the media, more 16-24 year olds do not trust the media than any other age group, more Conservative voters believe the media treats drugs and users fairly, there was little difference between how men and women responded and the more drugs someone has used and the more frequently someone uses a drug the less trusting they are in the media.
These findings also answer the second research question as they portray how the public view drugs and drug users and the differences between societal groups. It will also be integral when answering the third research question as these findings can be compared with the newspaper analysis findings as examined in the conclusions section.
Conclusion/Recommendations
In terms of recommendations and issues with the research carried out, it could be argued that the group of respondents were not broad enough to produce reliable results as there was far more 16-24 year olds than any other age as well as a disproportionate spread of distribution in terms of different political voters, however, the respondents of political stances could show the number of voters, roughly, who voted for each party in this country. Furthermore, other research methods would produce other aspects of the discussion such as the professional opinion from interviews with journalists. Also, the newspaper story being analysed mainly deals with drug addicts so this research does not cover recreational drug users as well. Print newspaper/archived articles would also provide another perspective into how the news media portray drugs and users, not just online news media. Also, the language analysis could be seen as bias or subjective due to the subjective nature of the task, so perhaps the language analysis is not conclusive enough. Perhaps second and third analysers could solve this problem. However, the survey did retrieve significant results that could be scaled to represent the general public in terms of drugs used and frequency of drug use. However, to retrieve more respondents or a wider ranging response, councils or colleges being contacted would produce wider ranging responses in terms of age, political affiliations and drug use. The newspaper analysis was scrupulously carried out so, the researcher believes the results drawn from the content were reliable and trustworthy. Further research in this area must be carried out frequently to portray how the news media is changing how they report on drugs and drug users, or not. Further research could be conducted within the television, radio or film media sectors to display how every media sector treats drug use and the effect this has on public perceptions. With drug policies around the world changing, it is important to evaluate if the news media is following this change or if it is reporting on drugs impartially. The research carried out shows how the British and Scottish newspaper sector treats the story at the present time, but further research should be carried out frequently as the world of drugs adapts.
Through the research methods used, the research questions posed at the start of this dissertation can be answered.
Research Question 1
With regards to the first research question, how the news media report on drugs and drug use. This has been answered through newspaper analysis. The frequency of articles written could be argued as to show the importance each newspaper feels the chosen topic is. With this theory in mind, it has been proven that the Scottish Daily Record believes this topic to be the most important, whereas the British Sun and The Guardian treat the chosen topic as the least important. However, it could be argued that frequency of articles published regards the news agenda of each newspaper or its priorities with regards to other, perhaps more local, news stories. It has also been proven that localised Sottish newspapers treat this story as the most important, this was predictable however, due to the local aspect of the story. The images used also portrayed a significant difference from newspaper to newspaper. The connotations of each image could be argued as to display each newspapers stance on drug users. With this in mind, it can be said that The Scottish Sun used the most emotional and dark images with the use of individuals injecting drugs and offering a drug in a peer pressure way. It can also be said that The Independent treated the chosen topic, through images, as a medical issue with the use of medical grade syringes. Furthermore, The Scotsman seemed to portray drug users as criminals and desperate, whereas the Daily Record were somewhat inconsistent as some images were at one end of the argument with the use of medical grade needles and academic, and other images used were of an individual injecting drugs, so it is difficult to pinpoint their views on problem drug users through studying the images used. Lastly, perhaps the most unexpected result came from the method of language analysis which mainly portrayed every article as similar in terms of key positive and negative words used and every newspaper’s stance on the chosen subject. Each newspaper seemed to be just as consistently positive as the last which suggests the news media are for drug consumption rooms in Glasgow, which could also suggest their positivity towards aiding problem users of drugs. The differences portrayed through language analysis came from associative language used, as some newspapers used more associative words than others. For example, the British Sun and The Independent both used the word ‘inject’ consistently more than the other associative words, suggesting their view of drug dependant individuals is that of disgust and visceral. Whereas, the Scotsman used the word ‘addict’ more suggesting the view the Scotsman has of problem drug users is that of desperation and in need. These findings show a dramatic change compared to the fabricated and xenophobic stories written in the 1920s and 30s, however, some still do not treat the subject as important and therefore readers learn “…how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position” (McCombs, M. and Shaw, D. 1972, p 1).
Research Question 2
The second research question was answered with the use of the online survey. The survey showed that the majority of the public do not think drugs, recreational drug users and drug addicts are reported on fairly by the news media. The majority of the public also believe this has a negative or very negative effect on how the public view drugs and drug users. In terms of age, the responses showed that there was mainly no difference with how each age group feels about how drugs and drug users are reported on, however, the survey showed that some of the younger age group of 16-24 believe drug users are treated fairly in the media. With regards to political stance, every political party voter responded similarly with the majority of each saying drugs and drug users are not treated fairly in the media, however, the Conservative voters were the only ones with more respondents who believed drugs and drug users are treated in the media objectively. This could be due to the Conservatives being in power in Britain or their right-wing approach to illicit drugs. Drug use also showed that the more drugs a person has had, the more likely they are to believe drugs and their users are not treated fairly by the news media. The frequency with which someone uses illicit drugs showed that some of the respondents who used a drug less than once a month believe drugs and their users are reported on fairly, this could be argued to be due to less experience with drugs. Furthermore, the survey also illustrated that the majority of the public do not trust any news media outlets to report on drugs or users objectively. These findings mainly show the public generally agree with the theory, mentioned before, that “Depictions of drugs and drug users which utilize alarmist rhetoric have been prevalent in media discourse and have targeted allegedly disreputable populations.” (Orsini, M, 2015 p 3).
Research Question 3
The last research question poses if the public and the news media think alike with regards to drug and their users. It could be argued that they do not. The newspaper analysis showed that the written content of every newspaper was positive and the survey portrayed that the majority of the public believe the news media report on drugs and users negatively so in this sense, they disagree significantly. However, the image analysis showed some newspapers are treating drug users unfairly which opposes Reuters journalistic ethics, “…text and visual stories need to reflect all sides, not just one” (Handbook.reuters.com, 2018). So, it could also be claimed that the public are correct to believe the news media report on drug users negatively due to the unbalanced images used by some newspapers. Lastly it could be asserted that the frequency of articles written by some was small enough to come to the conclusion that these newspapers such as the Guardian and The Sun do not see the chosen subject as important, therefore this could be seen as reporting negatively so, again it could be said that the public are correct to believe some news media outlets report on drugs unfairly.
It has been shown how the Scottish news media report on drugs and drug users through the similarities and differences between the news media outlets, their use of images, frequency of articles written and language used. The Scottish media differ in terms of how often each outlet will dedicate news space to the chosen subject and the connotations of the images used. Although The language used shows each Scottish news media outlet handles the subject with more positive language than negative, the news media clearly are not catering to the interests and needs of the public if the vast majority of the public do not trust any news media outlets to report on drugs fairly.
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