News is an essential part of American life, so much so its protection was included within the Bill of Rights. Not only is news media a means of transmitting information, it can strengthen a society, shape opinions, enrich one’s knowledge, and serves as a backbone of democracy by ensuring the public is apprised on topics of national concern. One such topic of concern within our society is the nation’s opioid epidemic. Lives are being lost at an alarming rate, state and local governments are scrambling to address the issue with policy and programs, and the news media are capturing it all. Before news media effects can be accurately described, one must obtain a clear understanding of the magnitude of the epidemic and its underlying causes.
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Historically, drug addicts are perceived as low-life, homeless, nasty people on the streets as portrayed in television, news broadcasts, and movies for years. Society ignored the issue until it hit the prominent, suburban, high-end communities. Celebrities and children born to affluence are dying in alarming numbers and suddenly the issue is the leading story of the local news. Consequently, heroin and opioid addiction is no longer a crisis for the lower class.
Cultivation analysis, developed by George Gerbner in the 1960s, is defined as the ‘‘study of the relationships between institutional processes, message systems, and the public assumptions, images, and policies that they cultivate’’ (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010). As such, the theory implies that power comes from mass communication, specifically discovered through Gerbner’s research of the relationship between television viewing and perception of reality. Gerbner’s research revealed that heavy viewers of television programs containing violence developed a general mistrust of people and the world, heightened fear of walking alone at night, and believed themselves more vulnerable to crime (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010). Consequently, mass media has a great deal of influence on those who engage in it, and the more one engages in it, the more they see the world through the lenses as media
Historically, drug addicts are perceived as low-life, homeless, nasty people on the streets as portrayed in television, news broadcasts, and movies for years. Society ignored the issue until it hit the prominent, suburban, high-end communities. Celebrities and children born to affluence are dying in alarming numbers and suddenly the issue is the leading story of the local news. Consequently, heroin and opioid addiction is no longer a crisis for the lower class.
Cultivation analysis, developed by George Gerbner in the 1960s, is defined as the ‘‘study of the relationships between institutional processes, message systems, and the public assumptions, images, and policies that they cultivate’’ (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010). As such, the theory implies that power comes from mass communication, specifically discovered through Gerbner’s research of the relationship between television viewing and perception of reality. Gerbner’s research revealed that heavy viewers of television programs containing violence developed a general mistrust of people and the world, heightened fear of walking alone at night, and believed themselves more vulnerable to crime (Morgan & Shanahan, 2010). Consequently, mass media has a great deal of influence on those who engage in it, and the more one engages in it, the more they see the world through the lenses as media