Exam 5: Drugs in the Media

The period during which media attention was most strongly focused on drug use and abuse was the:

According to the discussion on media bias:

The year that drug use was most frequently in the news was:

Which of the following media assertions about the use of crack cocaine in the 1980s was later verified by scientific research?

Apply the distinction between an "essentialistic" and a "constructionist" approach to phenomena,spelled out in Chapter 1,to media representations of drug use throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first.Is the media depiction of drug use an essentialistic or a constructionist approach to drug use?

In your opinion,which of the four theories of media bias best explains the enormous attention paid to crack in the 1980s? Be specific and detailed.

Discuss the various claims that the media made regarding the effects of specific drugs between the 1930s and the 2000s which were factually incorrect.Why were these claims made,how were they corrected,and have they died down now that the factual record has been set straight regarding these drugs?

How does the media hierarchy of prestige influence media sensationalism with respect to drug use? Do media organizations higher on the ladder of prestige present a drug story in a different way than media organizations lower down on the ladder of prestige? Explain.

In several cases,media attention to a drug's supposed harms and dangers was followed by legislation criminalizing the possession and sale of that drug.Cite these cases,explaining for what drug this took place and in what era.

Discuss some common themes that can be found during all the eras of drug stories,from marijuana use in the 1930s to methamphetamine use in the late 1990s to the early twenty-first century.