| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to investigate the priming of drug abuse in print media.
The study sought to provide valuable information on the extent to which the print
media has given prominence to drug abuse and suggest recommendations to curb the
problem of drug abuse. The objectives of the study sought to assess contributions that
have been put forward by print media to stop drug and substance abuse, assess the
nature of media coverage in terms of number of articles, their size, article type,
placement and prominence, point out weaknesses in the media coverage of the various
factors associated with increase in drug abuse scourge and find out the main subject
focused on in the articles. The research used content analysis and the data was
analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively and it involved the use of tables, bar
graphs and pie charts aimed at condensing the data collected. In the study, it was
found out that drug abuse has not been given prominence by the print media and this
is because most of the articles published were short items and they appeared on the
inside page of the newspapers. This means that only a few people read such items.
Therefore, the researcher concluded that print media has not given drug abuse
prominence. This calls for concerted efforts between key media stakeholders to
conduct aggressive campaigns to sensitize the public on drug abuse and its effects.
The government should come up with a comprehensive policy on drug abuse. The
government should also ensure that teachers are trained on drug abuse so that they can
give the students adequate and appropriate information on the same because media is
not the only channel that can be used to curb drug abuse. More articles should be
published in the newspapers and should be put in the headlines so that the public can
know that drug abuse is a serious issue. The researcher suggested that more studies
should be conducted on priming of drug abuse. | en_US |
