The Role of Race and Class in Local Media Coverage of Utah's Opioid Epidemic
Abstract
This project’s aim is to increase understanding of the role that demographic factors like race and class play in news coverage of Utah’s opioid epidemic. I begin by reviewing literature on the role race and class has played in national media coverage of the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s and other social crises, and then conduct original research on Utah’s opioid epidemic by looking at local newspapers and broadcasts. Specifically, I look at 64 news stories from six major local media outlets. This project revealed seven general themes in local media coverage, including an emphasis on the way middle-class and white demographics are affected by the opioid epidemic.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
a) Authors retain copyright over their work, while allowing the conference to place this unpublished work under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows others to freely access, use, and share the work, with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and its initial presentation at this conference.
b) Authors are able to waive the terms of the CC license and enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution and subsequent publication of this work (e.g., publish a revised version in a journal, post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial presentation at this conference.
c) In addition, authors are encouraged to post and share their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) at any point before and after the conference.
d) The Author grants Marriott Library the nonexclusive, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable right to reproduce, distribute, display, publish, archive, preserve, digitize, transcribe, translate, provide access and transmit their work (in whole or in part) for any non-commercial purpose including but not limited to archiving, academic research, and marketing in such tangible electronic formats as may be in existence now or hereafter developed.
e) Marriott Library may elect, in its sole discretion, not to exercise the rights granted herein.
f) Author shall retain copyright in and to the Work and Marriott Library shall provide proper attribution in its exercise of the rights granted herein.
g) Author is solely responsible and will indemnify and hold Marriott Library and/or the University of Utah harmless for any third party claims related to the Work as submitted for publication.
