Home > The ecstasy of agony? Moral panic in the print media.

O'Brien, Aoife (1998) The ecstasy of agony? Moral panic in the print media. MSc thesis, Trinity College Dublin.

This dissertation examines the portrayal of the synthetic drug MDMA, more commonly known as ecstasy, in the print media in Ireland. Qualitative documentary research methods were used to analyse thirty-two articles from two Irish newspapers, in the time period 1991 to 1997. Two Irish newspapers, the Irish Times and the Evening Herald were chosen, representing broadsheet and tabloid approaches respectively. The qualitative data package QSR NUD*IST was used to code the data from the thirty-two articles analysed.

The portrayal of the drug ecstasy in the articles analysed was found to be overwhelmingly negative, with both newspapers using fearsome adjectives to describe it. A comparison of reporting styles between the two newspapers revealed that there was not a great diference between their styles, and though The Evening Herarld was found to have a less cautious approach, both newspapers came to the same negative conclusions about ecstasy.


Item Type
Thesis
Publication Type
Irish-related, Other
Drug Type
CNS stimulants
Date
1998
Call No
BJ2.8, VH4.2
Pages
123 p.
EndNote
Accession Number
HRB 518 (Available)
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