T Cameron Wild1, Jakob Koziel2, Jalene Anderson-Baron2, Josh Hathaway2, Ashley McCurdy2, Xin Xu2, Mark Asbridge3, Lynne Belle-Isle4, Andrew Hathaway5, Donald MacPherson6, Elaine Hyshka7. 1. School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: cam.wild@ualberta.ca. 2. School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada. 3. Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. 4. Canadian AIDS Society and Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. 5. University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. 6. Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 7. School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada; Inner City Health and Wellness Program, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Harm reduction interventions reduce mortality and morbidity for people who use drugs (PWUD), but are contentious and haphazardly implemented. This study describes volume and content of Canadian newspaper coverage of harm reduction produced from 2000 to 2016. METHODS: Searches of 54 English-language newspapers identified 5681 texts, coded for type (news reports, opinion pieces), tone (positive, negative, or neutral/balanced coverage), topic (health, crime, social welfare, and political perspectives on harm reduction), and seven harm reduction interventions. RESULTS: Volume of coverage doubled in 2008 (after removal of harm reduction from federal drug policy and legal challenges to Vancouver's supervised consumption program) and quadrupled in 2016 (tracking Canada's opioid emergency). Health perspectives on harm reduction were most common (39% of texts) while criminal perspectives were rare (3%). Negative coverage was over 10 times more common in opinion pieces (31%) compared to news reports (3%); this trend was more pronounced in British Columbia and Alberta, a region particularly affected by Canada's opioid emergency. Supervised drug consumption accounted for 49% of all newspaper coverage. CONCLUSIONS: Although federal policy support for harm reduction waxed and waned over 17 years, Canadian newspapers independently shaped public discourse, frequently characterizing harm reduction positively/neutrally and from a health perspective. However, issue framing and agenda setting was also evident: supervised drug consumption offered in a single Canadian city crowded out coverage of all other harm reduction services, except for naloxone. This narrow sense of 'newsworthiness' obscured public discourse on the full spectrum of evidence-based harm reduction services that could benefit PWUD.
BACKGROUND: Harm reduction interventions reduce mortality and morbidity for people who use drugs (PWUD), but are contentious and haphazardly implemented. This study describes volume and content of Canadian newspaper coverage of harm reduction produced from 2000 to 2016. METHODS: Searches of 54 English-language newspapers identified 5681 texts, coded for type (news reports, opinion pieces), tone (positive, negative, or neutral/balanced coverage), topic (health, crime, social welfare, and political perspectives on harm reduction), and seven harm reduction interventions. RESULTS: Volume of coverage doubled in 2008 (after removal of harm reduction from federal drug policy and legal challenges to Vancouver's supervised consumption program) and quadrupled in 2016 (tracking Canada's opioid emergency). Health perspectives on harm reduction were most common (39% of texts) while criminal perspectives were rare (3%). Negative coverage was over 10 times more common in opinion pieces (31%) compared to news reports (3%); this trend was more pronounced in British Columbia and Alberta, a region particularly affected by Canada's opioid emergency. Supervised drug consumption accounted for 49% of all newspaper coverage. CONCLUSIONS: Although federal policy support for harm reduction waxed and waned over 17 years, Canadian newspapers independently shaped public discourse, frequently characterizing harm reduction positively/neutrally and from a health perspective. However, issue framing and agenda setting was also evident: supervised drug consumption offered in a single Canadian city crowded out coverage of all other harm reduction services, except for naloxone. This narrow sense of 'newsworthiness' obscured public discourse on the full spectrum of evidence-based harm reduction services that could benefit PWUD.
Authors: Claire Thompson; Christelle Clary; Vanessa Er; Jean Adams; Emma Boyland; Thomas Burgoine; Laura Cornelsen; Frank de Vocht; Matt Egan; Amelia A Lake; Karen Lock; Oliver Mytton; Mark Petticrew; Martin White; Amy Yau; Steven Cummins Journal: SSM Popul Health Date: 2021-05-27