Seeking the public health angle in Missouri newspaper coverage of the opioid crisis

Abstract

The public health model of reporting calls for public health professionals and journalists to work together to provide social and environmental context, risk factors, and prevention information in news coverage of public health issues. This quantitative content analysis describes the prevalence of contextual information in Missouri newspaper coverage of the opioid crisis. Results indicate Missouri newspapers are not depicting the opioid crisis as a public health issue. The study has implications for research and practice.