NCJ Number
164646
Journal
Media Monitor Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1989) Pages: 1-6
Editor(s)
S R Lichter,
L S Lichter
Date Published
1989
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Media coverage of drug policies and drug issues was analyzed using information from 562 stories published in the Washington Post, Time, or Newsweek or broadcast on news programs on ABC, CBS, or NBC television.
Abstract
Results revealed that when drug use was debated, one source in six defended or accepted the use of currently prohibited drugs. Stories criticizing failed drug policies outnumbered those praising successes by a three-to-one margin. Four out of five evaluations of President and Mrs. Reagan's role in the war on drugs were negative. Television news stories criticized the war on drugs by an eight-to-one margin, compared to a three-to-two negative margin in print. CBS broadcast more criticism than ABC and NBC combined. The policies discussed most often focused on a conservative agenda: expanded police and military operations and stiffer sentences. However, the criticisms most often reflected a liberal perspective: the need to spend more money and to focus on the social and economic causes of drug abuse. Figures