1. BACKGROUND AND ORIENTATION TO THE STUDY 1 INTRODUCTION
2.9 REPRESENTATION OF ILLICIT DRUGS IN TABLOIDS
2.9.2 Representation of nyaope in South African tabloids
Studies conducted by Lewis, Hamilton & Franklin (2008:107) observed that tabloids can provide information about events and conditions in society and the world through explaining, interpreting and commenting on the meaning of events. On the contrary, knowledge about tabloids and illicit drugs is indisputably limited, yet illicit drugs such as cannabis, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines feature in thousands of news stories and remain some of the most popular motifs in films, television, magazines and online chat rooms. While news outlets such as tabloids, have limited space to dedicate to such issues, illicit drugs are clearly newsworthy. Therefore, tabloids’ portrayals of illicit drugs influence youth attitudes towards drug abuse.
In addition, good tabloid stories also draw images and words together with picture complements that draw the reader in a way that mainstream press do not always get right. It is not just the use of big or many images, it is how the images tell the story.
All graphical elements; sidebars, pictures and multiple stories on the page often blend seamlessly into the overall narrative. This newer form of news writing breaks up big chunks of text to keep the reader engaged(Lewis, Hamilton & Franklin, 2008).
• Representation of nyaope in Pretoria News
According to Manning (2007:151), tabloids are seen to comprehensively misrepresent drugs, their effects, typical users and sellers and indeed the whole nature of the drug market and the enforcement response to it. In many ways the media may even define what is ‘seen’ as drugs because it concentrates on solvents, nyaope, heroin, crack, ecstasy, et cetera thereby conditioning public attitudes about the ‘drug problem’ and what the response to it should be.
In the context of this study, a news report titled “Alarm over nyaope addiction” in Pretoria News, Moatshe (2016), stated that despite the several efforts to tackle
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nyaope abuse, thousands of young people in Soshanguve were increasingly getting hooked on the drug. The report further stated that Soshanguve police station Head, Colonel Khumbulani Mbatha postulated that the use of nyaope was on the increase and threatening the lives of young people. Mbatha told the Pretoria News during an anti-drug march organised by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that the phenomenon seemed to have infiltrated the schools, but police were doing all they could to combat further use of the drug. It was further reported that once a week, police embarked on unannounced raid at schools where they conducted stop-and-search operations as part of the anti-drug crusade.Pupils were in some cases targeted by drug-dealers as potential buyers, but police were on course to tackle the problem (Moatshe, 2016).
The reportage of such news is evidence that tabloids are integral in informing the public of serious issues such as substance abuse, because such issues do not only affect users but the society and government. This view is supported by Bell and Garrett’s (1984:107) research that points out that the daily happenings of our societies are expressed in the stories we are told in the media. In addition, as important social institutions, they are crucial presenters of culture, politics and social life, shaping as well as reflecting how these are formed and expressed.
• Representation of nyaope in the Mail and Guardian
A survey conducted by Manning & McCandless (2009) found out that tabloids focus predominantly on the criminal aspects of drugs and drug use. The research on tabloids coverage of illicit drugs has further shown that roughly 50% of the overall coverage of news reports is represented by criminal stories about illicit drug production, trafficking and sales, or secondary crime. Additionally, deaths related to illicit drugs gain significantly more attention than deaths attributable to prescribed or regulated substances, notwithstanding the underlying incidences. Overall, drug issues are considered to ‘sell’ the media to the public.
For example, a news report extracted from 04 July 2014’s Mail and Guardian newspaper edition, Ephraim (2014) titled: “Nyaope’s deadly and addictive mix” is one of the many news reports in South African tabloids that represents the consumption of nyaope. The news report addressed the fact that nyaope is more often than not ingested in such desperate; poverty stricken surrounds and outlined the consequences of using the drug. In a world where employment status determines
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the kind of white powder you consume, it is nyaope that finds itself at the bottom of the pile- making it a cheaper drug thus far. The news report documented the life story of Fire, a nyaope addict, residing in Snake Park, Gauteng. The pictorial reporting in the news article displayed a slender and distraught nyaope addict and reads:
“Just before the other addicts sat down to smoke; Fire was fast approaching his breaking point. It was almost 11am and he had not had his drug yet. His mouth was dry. He was edgy, snapping at those around him. The pain from cramps in his stomach had become unbearable. His face was distorted and his winning smile was nowhere to be seen. But a drag of nyaope changed all of that. “That’s the heroin withdrawal,” (Ephraim, 2014).
According to Vos (2012), the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence is too familiar with the signs of drug abuse: Vos explains that a scene from the movie Basketball Diaries, where a character played by a young Leonardo DiCaprio is kept in a room and forced to stay clean in order to kick the habit is replica to the effects of nyaope consumption. That is what heroin does, and this is what is contained in nyaope. It is these withdrawals; the cramps, nausea, mood swings and aggression that make nyaope so addictive. In addition, a user is terrified of having to deal with the feelings of anxiety and physical pain, so the only possible cure available is another fix, and then another one, and another one after that (Ephraim, 2014).
Subsequently, the above news report is evidence that the abuse of nyaope is a social problem with consequences attached to its use. The reportage of such information indicates that tabloids provide information on the conditions affecting the South African society.
• Representation of nyaope in The Citizen
A study conducted by Hughes (2010) points out that news media ought to be recognised as one of the factors that can affect attitudes towards and demand for illicit drugs and there is an opportunity to expand use of news media to shape youth attitudes towards drugs.
Nonetheless, a news report in The Citizen’s 03 April 2014 edition titled “The scourge of nyaope” (Venter, 2014) highlights the life of Moses Letoalo, a rehabilitated addict who runs Sechaba, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Tshwane which helps
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youths who struggle with drug problems. In the news report, Letoalo explains that his attitude towards quitting nyaope and starting the rehabilitation centre was evoked by continuous reportage of the consequences of nyaope in the media. “The last straw was a news story of a family from Mamelodi who lost two children to the drug. The mother had three children. A twin boy and girl aged 15 and an older son aged 17.
They were all addicted to nyaope and the older brother killed the younger brother in an argument about the drug” Letoalo (Venter, 2014).
The discourse and actual words used in the news report by the journalist from The Citizen, and the connotations and denotations, contribute towards understanding and explaining the phenomenon of the consumption of nyaope in the newspapers understudy. The study subsequently, used three tabloids namely: The Citizen, The Mail and Guardian and Pretoria News because the newspapers target the black middle class who were affected by drug use and abuse (Maughan & Eliseev, 2007).