CELEBRITIES, DRINKS, AND DRUGS: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF CELEBRITY SUBSTANCE ABUSE AS PORTRAYED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES

• Main Author: Austin, Brent John
• Format: Others
• Published: CSUSB ScholarWorks 2014
• Subjects: celebrity; substance abuse; Critical discourse analysis; the new york times; newspaper analysis; Arts and Humanities; Film and Media Studies; Other Arts and Humanities; Other Film and Media Studies; Rhetoric and Composition
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/104; https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1109&context=etd

This study is an examination of the ideologies present in celebrity substance abuse news stories in The New York Times online from December 2012 to December 2013. I analyzed news stories by employing a critical discourse analysis to determine the dominant discourses in celebrity substance abuse news articles. Drawing from cultivation and framing theories, celebrity substance abuse stories in The New York Times are presented in a limited, individual fashion with relatively little effort when it comes to recovery. Rather than treating substance abuse as a serious social issue and a medical condition, it is presented as an individual, moral problem. Moreover, recovery from substance abuse is presented as a personal choice which involves very little to no assistance and is easy to acquire.