Analyzing Media Text

Analyzing Media Text

People Using Illicit Opioids Face Higher Risk of Death from these Causes: Study Finds

News articles are sourced from the Internet from CNN health. This article can be classified as a classified advertisement. Classified advertising is a form of advertising common in newspapers, the Internet, and other periodicals which may be distributed or sold for free. Any publication conveyed through the Internet can also be classified as online advertising. CNN news is a credible international source of News. This article was written on 26th December 2019 and posted on the CNN website at 1601 GMT. Jacqueline Howard, who is a CNN online News reporter, wrote the report.

The author of the article intends to warn users of opioids on the potential causes of deaths related to opioid abuse. Although the article refers directly to opiate addicts and health care providers, the writer may have been targeting a general audience. The report sources its information from the JAMA Psychiatry Medical Journal. The purpose of the medical journal posted on 26th December 2019 was to address All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Among People Using Extra-Medical Opioids. The authorship of the article may have been motivated by the increase in mortality among people using extra-medical opioids. Moreover, the article intends to stir extra-medical opioid users and the readers into thinking critically about the opioid predicament.

The article opens by emphasizing that users of illicit opioids risk not only drug related deaths but also other causes of deaths related to opioid use. Understandably, the author of the article relies on an analysis of other studies to convey the intended message of the item. As described by the writer, people need to understand that there are several different causes of deaths due to the illicit use of opioids. For instance, the article explains that suicide occurred at almost eight times the expected rate among users of opioids outside of prescription.

The article also warns that concerned individuals also need to consider other potential causes of excess mortality, such as suicide, chronic disease, and infectious diseases. The report also gives an overview of the results of the journal by JAMA Psychiatry. Therefore, the article reviews the results of the journal. It explains that from the results of the study, men had higher drug-related deaths than women. Also, people who inject opioids have minimal access to care and die of chronic diseases. The article explains that the researchers found that non-communicable diseases accounted for 24.1%, infectious diseases 19.7%, and trauma 18.1 %, among other causes of mortality among users of illicit opioids.

Physicians and the structure of healthcare in the United States allegedly propagate the opioid crisis. The youths have mainly been high on the mortality rates due to opioid abuse. However, the article does not explain the possible reason for the increase in mortality rates among the young opioid abusers. Besides, BBC News also has several reports touching on the opioid crisis in America. A current BBC News report blames Purdue, a pharmaceutical company, for propagating the opioid crisis through its marketing methods. Another report by the BBC shows concerns for teens who are naïve to the dangers of prescription opiates. The topic of opioid crisis cuts across several online media platforms, including medicine plus, the guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Times, and The Washington Post.

The article focuses on the News specific to extra-medical causes of opioid deaths. The author of the piece maintains the information it derives from the primary source. Therefore, the article uses the episodic type frame. The author retains the topic of the material to overemphasize the issue of discussion. The technique is also essential in keeping the readers on the subject of discussion. Moreover, visual aid accompanying the article provides the reader with the predicament of illicit use of opioids.

In continuation, the writer of the article relies on a scientific study to source the information. Therefore, the data reported in the article is credible and factual. The essay entails a brief review of an analysis done by researchers to determine other possible causes of mortality among users of extra-medical opioids. Moreover, to prove that information provided by the article is factual and not out of opinion, the author cites the JAMA Psychiatry Medical Journal. The examples analyzed by the articles well describes other causes of deaths among illicit opioid users. For example, the author writes about smoking, trauma, HIV, AIDS, cancer, and generally includes non-communicable and infectious diseases. There is balance since the write maintains the issue being discussed and provides satisfactory proof to support the topic of the article.

The purpose of this article is to benefit the general audience. However, this article can be relatively significant to illicit opioid users and physicians who prescribe opioids. Mostly, the report uses active voice while evading the use of passive voice. In summary, the message of this article is relevant both for general purpose and specific target audience. Drug overdose has been a significant cause of death among extra-medical users of opioids. Therefore, information warning on other potential causes of deaths related to abuse of opioids is timely and necessary. I understand that the message is vital, revealing my concern for the drug addicts. Generally, I am satisfied with the importance of the nature of the text. However, information regarding the harmful effects of opioids should have been included in the article.