Media can influence audiences in four key ways: by setting the agenda and defining public interest; framing issues through selection and salience; indirectly shaping individual and community attitudes towards risk; and feeding into political debate and decision making. Each has relevance for the AOD field. For example, media coverage of the escalating heroin-related problems in Australia played a strong role in generating interest in heroin overdoses, framing public discourse in terms of a health and/or criminal issue and affecting political decisions. Implications AND CONCLUSION: Media coverage in relation to illicit drugs can have multifarious effects. Incorporating media communication theories into future research and actions is critical to facilitate understanding of the short- and long-term impacts of media coverage on illicit drugs and the avenues by which the AOD field can mitigate or inform future media debates on illicit drugs.
This study provides evidence to support an innovative support model for homeless people in Australia and contributes to the limited Australian research on mental illness in this population.
Research suggests youth make active choices about how they use and respond to media. Yet publicly available information outlining patterns of youth media consumption and how content is perceived – especially in relation to reporting of issues of pertinence to youth – is limited. Using an online survey of 2296 Australians aged 16–24, we measured news media consumption and perceptions of reporting on illicit drugs. The study concluded that Australian youth are not ‘deserting’ news media; indeed, they have regular contact with news media. However, youth regard mainstream news as lacking credibility.
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