US Media Prone to Meth Abuse Hysteria

This article from "Stats at George Mason University", published on 17 July 2006 and written by Maia Szalavitz highlights the failure of USA journalists to assess press releases objectively and to ensure their reporting is not manipulated by the political ends of lobbyists. Thus despite the fact that law enforcement officers are currently seeking extra funding for methamphetamine anti-drug task forces, journalists have uncritically accepted these officers' assessment of the problem of methamphetamine as the "number 1 drug problem". However these officers' assessment bears no correlation to drug treatment surveys or a recently released survey by the Sentencing Project which revealed that “methamphetamine is among the least commonly used drugs”.

This article is interesting in highlighting the supine malleability of the US media by lobbying organisations and the resultant corruption of the "free" press. At least there was one ray of sunshine in her report since she noted that the San Jose Mercury News did make use of its critical faculties to publish the political lobbyist nature of the officers' press release; "While conducted scientifically, the survey is also a political document intended to rally support for additional federal spending. In some cases, the statistics are skewed to make a point". Unfortunately I'm guessing that the circulation of the San Jose Mercury News doesn't enjoy the opinion-shaping influence of, say, the New York Times.