Department of Communication, University of Haifa.
School of Public Health, University of Haifa.
Health Commun. 2024 Apr;39(4):828-837. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2023.2187956. Epub 2023 Mar 13.
Driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) is a major cause of preventable death and a growing public health concern. News media coverage of DUIC may influence public perceptions of causal factors for DUIC, risks of DUIC, and potential policy solutions. This study examines Israeli news media coverage of DUIC, and contrasts media coverage according to whether news items refer to cannabis use for medical vs. non-medical purposes. We conducted a quantitative content analysis of news articles related to driving accidents and cannabis use ( = 299) from eleven of the highest circulation newspapers in Israel between 2008 and 2020. We apply attribution theory to analyze media coverage of accidents that were linked to medical cannabis, use compared with non-medical use. News items describing DUIC in the context of non-medical (vs. medical) cannabis use were more likely to: (a) emphasize individual causes (vs. social and political); (b) describe drivers in negative terms (vs. neutral or positive); (c) refer to an increased accident risk due to cannabis use (vs. inconclusive or low risk); and (d) call for increased enforcement rather than education. Results show that Israeli news media coverage of cannabis-impaired driving varied significantly depending on whether it referred to cannabis use for medical purposes, or non-medical purposes. News media coverage may influence public perceptions of the risks of DUIC, the factors that are associated with this issue, and potential policy solutions that may reduce the prevalence of DUIC in Israel.
在大麻影响下驾驶（DUI）是可预防死亡的主要原因，也是日益严重的公共卫生关注问题。新闻媒体对 DUI 的报道可能会影响公众对 DUI 因果因素、 DUI 风险以及潜在政策解决方案的看法。本研究检查了以色列新闻媒体对 DUI 的报道，并根据新闻报道是指医疗用途还是非医疗用途的大麻使用来对比媒体报道。我们对 2008 年至 2020 年间以色列 11 家发行量最大的报纸中与驾驶事故和大麻使用相关的新闻文章（共 299 篇）进行了定量内容分析。我们运用归因理论分析与医用大麻相关的事故的媒体报道，将医用大麻与非医用大麻的使用进行比较。在非医用（与医用）大麻使用背景下描述 DUI 的新闻报道更有可能：（a）强调个人原因（与社会和政治原因相对）；（b）以负面方式描述司机（与中性或正面方式相对）；（c）提到大麻使用会增加事故风险（与结论不明确或低风险相对）；（d）呼吁加强执法，而不是教育。结果表明，以色列新闻媒体对大麻影响驾驶的报道差异很大，这取决于报道是指医用大麻还是非医用大麻的使用。新闻媒体报道可能会影响公众对 DUI 风险的看法、与该问题相关的因素，以及可能降低以色列 DUI 发生率的潜在政策解决方案。
