Media ownership and content diversity: Reporting of illicit drug issues in metropolitan daily newspapers

K. Lancaster, Caitlin Hughes, B. Spicer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (SciVal)

Abstract

The Australian print media have been described as an “oligopoly”. Understanding how media diversity may affect content is thus important. Despite ongoing debate, few studies have examined the impact of own-ership, structural diversity and publication style on reporting of specific issues. Taking reporting of illicit drug issues as an example, we examine six metropolitan publications to explore regional differences evident in the reporting. We interpret these with respect to media ownership; how regions with multiple daily newspaper publications compare with those with one; and distinctive tabloid and broadsheet styles. We do so by analysing the framing of issues by drug type, topic, consequence and moral evaluation of drug use, and use of sources.The results demon-strate that there is heterogeneity in the reporting of illicit drug issues. Some of these differences may be attributable to ownership, region and, most notably, style. We contend that these questions should be further explored to understand why these differences exist and how they may shape public opinion.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)51-64
JournalAustralian Journalism Review
Volume34
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jul 2012

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