Reporting on the Opioid Crisis (2000-2018) – the Globe and Mail, Canada’s English Language Paper of Record

Abstract

Objectives: We aim to describe the general characteristics of how Canada’s newspaper of record – The Globe and Mail, reports on opioid-related news, the opioid crisis and its victims,and explore how Canadians’ perceptions of the opioid crisis could have developed over time.Methods: We searched The Globe and Mailbetween 2000 and 2018. We identified all articles related to the keyword “opioids”. Independently and in duplicate, reviewers extracted qualitative data from articles. The Social Representation Theory was used as a framework for understanding the how the opioid crisis is portrayed in Canada. Results:Our search yielded 554 relevant opioid articles.The number of articles peaked in 2009, 2012, and in 2016, coinciding with major developments in the epidemic. The language used in this discourse has evolved over the years and has slowly shifted towards less stigmatizing language. Content analysis of the articles revealed common social representations attributing blame to pharmaceutical companies, physicians, and foreign countries.It is easy to blame these collectives as this contributes to social representations thatare anchored in thepublic’s predisposed notions.Conclusions:Canadian coverage of the opioid crisis is focused on basic social representations and blame patterns towards a few collectives, a shift towards root causes of the opioid epidemic could positively influence the general public’s perception of the opioid crisis and help reap deeper understanding of the issue. Journalists face several obstacles to achieve greater focus and framing of the opioid crisis, a closer working relationshipbetween the media and the research community is needed.