Drawing on data gathered in the General Social Survey (GSS), this study examined the influence of political ideology, conceived as a measure of personal identity, and party affiliation, an indicator of group identity, on attitudes toward the legalization of marijuana in the United States. Earlier research found that while ideology showed significance as a determinant across a 30-year period, from 1986 to 2016, differences based on party affiliation did not become especially pronounced until 2004. At that point, in an increasingly partisan environment, individuals appeared to align themselves with perceived group stances. In the present study, with five demographic control variables in place, analyses showed that while ideology predicted legalization attitudes in each of three periods (2018, 2022, 2024), it lost significance as an explanatory measure in 2024 when regression equations included party affiliation. Findings appear consistent with recent studies addressing group identity, affective polarization, and negative partisanship.

ObjectiveDrawing on data gathered in the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, this study examined kratom use as a function of four demographic measures, personal health concerns, and whether individuals had experienced difficulties halting the use of specific drugs.MethodsWith kratom use as a response measure, logistic regression analyses tested the explanatory effects of demographic variables, estimates of overall health, concerns about substance use and mental health, and success (or lack of success) halting drug use across a 12-month period.ResultsAmong respondents 18 years and older, 2.4% had used kratom. Individuals who considered themselves in poor health were more likely to have used kratom, as were those who had been concerned about their drug or alcohol use or their mental health. Individuals who had been unable to quit alcohol, marijuana, pain relievers, and tranquilizers were more likely to have used kratom.ConclusionsResults appear consistent with studies observing kratom use among those with physical and mental health concerns as well as those attempting to stop using specific substances. The study recognizes the propensity of some individuals to use kratom in conjunction with other drugs for euphoric effects.

This study examines trolls affiliated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that targeted conversations around former Houston Rockets’ General Manager Daryl Morey, who tweeted support for Hong Kong protests and apologized in October 2019. Researchers coded 5,800 tweets to inform a machine-learning approach examining a corpus of over 163,000 tweets. Findings suggested that a PRC disinformation campaign was organized as a faux third-party image repair effort that sought to force an apology, deprive Morey of support, discourage future image threats, and shape public understanding. This effort used provocation, bolstering, barnacle, redirection, and attack the accuser. While apologies are generally held to be restorative in image repair and statecraft literature, Morey’s apology was a turning point that rallied opposition to the PRC and support for democracy and Morey. Implications include insight into the prevalence, strategies, and efficacy of PRC trolls, as well as recommendations for social media practitioners.

When challenger Jack Johnson took to the ring against heavyweight champion Tommy Burns, newspapers across the US quickly cast the bout as a battle between the races. Johnson, an African American, won the battle decisively and began his reign atop the world of prize fighting. This examination of content in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch seeks to inform newspaper coverage of Johnson during his time as the heavyweight champion, and considers the racial attitudes of Joseph Pulitzer and those of his son, Joseph Pulitzer II. The study finds that while the Post-Dispatch acknowledged Johnson as champion and occasionally published dignified photos of the boxer, content became contemptuous after his 1910 victory over former champion James Jeffries. Although the boxers appeared more likely than the newspaper to use racial epithets, the Post-Dispatch published multiple derogatory and racist cartoons of Johnson. Despite the lofty journalistic principles Pulitzer espoused and the perceived historical accuracy of those ideals-a 2016 editorial in the Post-Dispatch stated that Pulitzer "championed racial justice and women's rights decades before those ideas were popularly held"-history demonstrates a newspaper unconcerned with the sensibilities of African Americans while Johnson reigned as heavyweight champ.

Binge drinking is a major public health concern on college campuses and shares a deep connection to sporting culture. As such, student-athletes are potential referent points for addressing this destructive behavior among the student body. This study utilizes the theoretical frameworks of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and parasocial relationships (PSRs) to investigate the effects that student-athletes’ health advocacy has on college students’ attitudinal and behavioral intentions to binge drink. Analysis of data collected from 161 college students, who met the clinical definition of binge drinkers, indicated that issue involvement was associated with more favorable attitudes and the intention to continue drinking, and a disregard for student-athlete health advocacy. Greater degrees of source involvement (i.e., PSR), with depicted student-athletes, however, was found to positively affect elaboration and indirectly foster behavioral intentions to cease binge drinking. Results enhance our understanding of the ELM by suggesting source involvement – as opposed to issue involvement – can be an effective means of encouraging elaboration and decreasing college students’ behavioral intentions to binge drink.

In 1969, author Bil Gilbert wrote a three-part series on performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) for Sports Illustrated. Garry Valk, publisher of the magazine, characterised the series as 'the first comprehensive and authoritative study of a vastly complicated problem.' This study examined the influence of the Gilbert series on newspaper coverage of PEDs and the reactions of policymakers to both the magazine investigation and subsequent newspaper reporting. Coverage of amphetamines and anabolic steroids increased significantly in the three years following the series, while references to anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers decreased. These patterns reflected an apparent shift from restorative aids to additive substances following the magazine investigation. Additionally, one in three sources cited in Sports Illustrated served as a news source in subsequent press coverage, and some of those sources then testified at government hearings held at the state and national levels. Government hearings on PEDs appeared to function more symbolically than substantively, as did anti-drug campaigns and resolutions in sporting organisations. The study considers implications for sport history and the regulation of performance-enhancing drugs.

William Randolph Hearst became editor and proprietor of the San Francisco Examiner in 1887, and by 1935, he had assembled a media empire consisting of nearly 30 major newspapers, 13 magazines, 8 radio stations, 3 news wires, and 2 motion picture companies. Most scholarship about Hearst has focused on his newspapers; less studied have been the magazines he acquired early in the 20th century. This monograph examines immigrant representations in Hearst magazines published between 1905 and 1945, focusing on how magazine fiction, nonfiction, and “fact-fiction” articles presented immigrants and immigration as social and political issues. Like Hearst himself, the publications favored immigrants from Germany and the Scandinavian countries of northern Europe and tended to disfavor those from China and Japan and, to a lesser extent, Mexico. According to the magazines, immigrants from the Far East and Mexico were “undesirables” who threatened society by, allegedly, importing, selling, and using hazardous drugs. Newspaper advertisements, news articles, and editorials extended these portrayals to wider audiences. Hearst also applied cross-media promotion to motion pictures, with writers converting fiction from his magazines into screenplays for Cosmopolitan Productions and MGM. The monograph contains examples of how magazine content and iconic covers have informed contemporary films and television series. In recent years, stylized representations have glamorized lifestyles but have also perpetuated cultural stereotypes that may contribute to anti-immigrant attitudes.

This study analyzed 264 athlete images featured on the covers of nine men’s magazines across a 40-year period, 1980–2019. Among males, who accounted for 227 (81%) of the 264 athletes, African Americans and Latinos each represented 6 sports, most of which involved team competition, while White males represented 21 sports, many of which were individual. Analyses of position stacking in football showed White players in positions considered “central” to contest outcomes and Black athletes assigned to more “peripheral” roles. Among females, nearly all of whom were White, more than one in three participated in professional wrestling or sports entertainment. Other female athletes represented individual sports such as tennis and swimming. Overall, the study concludes that men’s magazines reproduced stacking patterns observed in earlier research.

Extant research has discussed the importance of social climates surrounding sport-related concussion (SRC) reporting, especially the need to address parents/guardians' role in concussion management. This study explores parents/guardians' intentions toward SRC-related conversations with their children and their seeking of conversational resources via the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Data collected from 292 parents/guardians of 1(st)-12(th) graders who play contact sports are examined via a structural equation model. The results indicate that parents/guardians' intention toward communicating with their child about SRC reporting was determined by their attitudes and subjective norms but that perceived behavioral control was not a significant predictor of intention. Furthermore, parents/guardians' intention toward having these conversations was predictive of whether they sought information to aid these conversations. This study answers calls to address parents/guardians' involvement in SRC management and provides preliminary information for persuading parents/guardians to have conversations with their children about SRC reporting.

In this research, we surveyed 214 college journalists to assess their attitudes toward a series of ethical dilemmas. Significant predictors of a nine-item index included years enrolled in college, completion of an ethics course, ethics training as a part of student media, informal discussions about ethics in student media, number of situations calling for an ethics-related decision, familiarity with the ethics code of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and use of that code. Of these determinants, familiarity with the SPJ code showed the strongest association with the response measure. Findings suggest that formal instruction of ethics and professional journalistic norms should continue and that students should be encouraged to gain practical experience during their college years. Additionally, data suggest the SPJ code can prove useful as a pedagogical tool and should be incorporated into both classrooms and newsrooms.

More than 25 years have passed since the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 classified dietary supplements as a subcategory of food, thereby exempting manufacturers from providing premarket evidence of product safety and efficacy. In this commentary, I discuss problems in the supplement industry through an examination of cases introduced or decided in US federal courts between 2010 and 2019. More than half the cases located involved defendants charged with introducing misbranded food or drugs into interstate commerce. Contaminants included anabolic steroids, erectile dysfunction medications, weight-loss drugs, workout stimulants and mind-altering substances. As the article points out, raw powders obtained in bulk quantities facilitate the practice of 'home brewing' and the introduction of prescription drugs into dietary supplements.

This study examined how the covers of three newsmagazines, Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report, portrayed drugs of abuse between 1979 and 2019. Findings showed consistency with extant research suggesting that a rigid focus on supply has resulted in a vilification of Latino traffickers from Central and South America. We also saw differences in how newsmagazines portrayed powder cocaine and crack cocaine and observed patterns of “White washing” opioid abuse. Implications and recommendations for future research are provided.

Drawing on 10 sets of data gathered in the General Social Survey between 2000 and 2018, this study examined whether confidence in the press mediated political party affiliation as a determinant of attitudes toward the scientific community. The study observed full mediation effects in three of five instances in which Republicans occupied the White House, with partial or no mediation observed at other points. Overall findings showed that males, White respondents, and those who had completed more years of school, as well as Democrats and those who indicated higher levels of confidence in the press, tended to report greater levels of confidence in the scientific community. The study discusses quantitative results in light of increased partisanship and derisive attacks on news media.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates advertising associated with dietary supplements, acting for consumers in cases of deception. This study examines the extent to which regional and national newspapers responded to 177 FTC press releases about deceptive claims associated with weight-loss supplements. Of 177 FTC press releases, 77 (43.5%) received at least some coverage in 212 newspaper reports; however, a relatively small number of releases accounted for the preponderance of coverage. Marked increases in news reports at certain points reflected FTC press releases involving multiple companies, new initiatives and the “superfood” acai berry.

Although studies in mass communication and investigative journalism have examined associations between newspaper reporting and policy formation, little research has focused on the policy influence of magazine coverage. In addition, given research questions that implicitly or explicitly conclude with policy implementation, studies have tended to analyze materials prior to the passage of legislation with little attention paid to subsequent reporting. This monograph examines magazine coverage of patent medicines before and after the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 became law. Patent medicines, which appeared in the form of cure-alls, headache remedies, and soothing syrups, emerged long before the federal government regulated substances such as morphine and cocaine, and nostrums often included these substances in addition to alcohol. Near the turn of the 20th century, magazine journalists began to draw attention to the hazards associated with patent medicines, building an agenda for policy reform. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 required manufacturers to list habit-forming substances and the quantities of those substances on product labels, and sales showed an appreciable decline; however, companies continued to profit. An examination of magazine articles showed that, in addition to patent-medicine manufacturers, newspapers received significant criticism for advancing industry interests through advertising. As a partial result of outlandish claims made in advertisements, problems with patent medicines continued after implementation of the Pure Food and Drug Act. Government officials and the U.S. Supreme Court were among those who undermined the 1906 law. Implications for investigative journalism, history, and public policy are discussed.

This study examined 681 male athlete features inDetails,Esquire,GQ, andPlayboyacross the first two decades of the 21st century. While White athletes accounted for 283 features and Black athletes 329, the former were featured in 35 of 43 sports observed, compared to just 14 for the latter. In fact, more than 80% of all features on Black athletes focused on basketball, football, and boxing. Latino athletes accounted for 52 of the 681 total features and represented 15 sports, one more than African Americans. Recognizing existing research, the study applies the termmediated sport stackingto the practice of limiting the Black athletic experience primarily to team sports, especially basketball. The article considers the implications of statistical patterns observed and also includes limitations and recommendations for future research.

Drawing on contact, social identity. and self-categorization theories, this study examines the extent to which adolescent sports participation associates with (a) concern about the treatment of minority groups and (b) worry about race relations in the United States. Based on data gathered in the 2016 Monitoring the Future study of twelfth-grade students, the study finds that females. Hispanic study participants, respondents in the West region, and sports participants expressed greater concern about minority treatment. On the second dependent variable, females, Black study participants, and respondents in the West region indicated greater worry about race relations. The study also examined whether attitudes appeared to vary across baseball/softball. basketball, and soccer participation. Baseball/softball participants, who were predominantly White, expressed less concern about minority groups but did not differ from others on attitudes toward race relations. Additionally, while Black adolescents competing in baseball/softball and soccer worried about race relations at relatively high levels, those competing in basketball expressed significantly less concern. Implications and recommendations for future research are provided.

Sport media enjoyment, measured as an emotional response to suspense in an athletic competition, increased with the closeness of a given contest. Male respondents enjoyed especially close contests more than females. D. R. Peterson and A. A. Raney used the S. Gan et al. scale in studying suspense as a predictor of enjoyment, and in a subsequent study involving viewing conditions, A. C. H. Kim, Y. Cheong, and Kim drew on elements of the Peterson and Raney research. Relatedly, D. M. Shafer studied suspense as a predictor of enjoyment in sports video games, having previously used scale items in examining state hostility and enjoyment. Little research has examined the validity of the Sport Media Enjoyment Scale. On its face, the scale appeared to measure what it was intended to measure, and statistical associations observed in published research have generally aligned with conceptualized relationships. Accordingly, sport communication researchers may want to examine multidimensional scales before committing to the sport-specific scale.