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Newspaper Reporting and the Production of Deviance: Drug Use Among Professional Athletes

NCJ Number
151473
Journal
Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal Volume: 14 Dated: (1993) Pages: 317-339
Author(s)
M J Leiber; K M Jamieson; M D Krohn
Date Published
1993
Length
23 pages
Annotation
A content analysis of two newspapers focused on press reports of the athlete-drug issue over a 28-year period, using a social constructionist perspective to determine why the use of illegal drugs among professional athletes became a significant social problem in the 1980's.
Abstract
The analysis focused on the daily New York Times and the weekly Sporting News from 1962 to 1989. Results suggest a pattern in the level and type of reporting consistent with a social constructionist framework, in which interested parties have a significant role in problem definition. Crucial factors in the definitional process involved media concern with newsworthy stories, efforts by league officials to protect the moral and economic integrity of the game, and denial of a problem and strong resistance to proposed drug policies by player associations. League officials used the drug issue either directly or indirectly as a means to weaken the concerns of professional athletes for improved economic benefits. Tables, footnote, and 69 references (Author abstract modified)

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