Abstract

This paper examines how the audience for which a newspaper is writing effects its coverage of heroin epidemic associated with white communities. A content analysis was performed on articles concerning heroin use in the Boston Herald, Boston Globe, and Bay State Banner from September 1, 2002 through September 1, 2007. It was found that the mainstream newspapers, the Herald and Globe, promoted white privilege by providing extensive coverage of the heroin epidemic and advocating drug treatment and needle exchanges when the heroin user depicted in the articles were white. It was also found that the Herald and Globe differed in their coverage of the heroin epidemic. Increases in coverage of the Herald, a tabloid writing for a conservative blue collar audience, were based on sensationalistic news stories that portrayed heroin use as destroying white communities, while the Globe, writing for a more affluent liberal audience, increased its coverage during public policy debates concerning heroin use.