Representation of drug addiction in Pakistani print media: A Latent Dirichlet Allocation analysis

This paper investigates the representation of drug addiction in Pakistani English print media articles using a topic modelling algorithm known as Latent Dirichlet Allocation. The data, based on 4,100 articles (2014–2023), were collected from the widely circulated newspaper, The News International. The data were retrieved from the LexisNexis database. This research employs Grounded Theory, a data-driven approach that generates explanations or theories from the data. The results showed that drug addiction is presented as interconnected themes, placed in a broader social and institutional context. Drug addiction, particularly among youth, is on the rise and is described as a serious concern. This multifaceted issue is situated at the intersection of public health, social welfare, criminal activity, and national security. Media representation of the issue highlights law enforcement and emphasizes the importance of public awareness, social responsibility, prevention, and rehabilitation of victims, and policy interventions. The findings reveal that state-centric and enforcement-related narratives dominate the themes of treatment, education, and prevention. This study, therefore, recommends a more balanced representation that focuses equally on prevention, treatment, and recovery.