Exploring digital news, advocacy networks and social media campaigns ‘for’ and ‘against’ cannabis legalisation during New Zealand’s cannabis legalisation referendum

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21605409
AutoresMarta Rychert (0000-0003-4170-1615, Shore & Whāriki Research Centre, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand, autor de correspondencia), Chris Wilkins (0000-0002-5564-6226, Shore & Whāriki Research Centre, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand), Robin van der Sanden (0000-0002-7606-2211, Shore & Whāriki Research Centre, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand), Jitesh Prasad (Shore & Whāriki Research Centre, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand)
Año2023
Volumen30
Número5
Páginas505-515
Fecha de publicación2023-09-03
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDrugs Education Prevention and Policy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0968-7637 • E-ISSN: 1465-3370
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09687637.2022.2090897
OpenAlexW4293060762
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas33

New Zealand’s 2020 cannabis legalisation referendum was narrowly defeated. Some post-referendum commentary claimed that the anti-reform campaign dominated the information space. Digital media represented a new forum for referendum advocacy. We analysed reporting on the cannabis referendum by six leading New Zealand digital news providers and Facebook advocacy campaigns ‘for’ and ‘against’ legalisation during 3 months pre-referendum. The mean sentiment score of media articles was marginally supportive of reform (+0.4 on a scale of −2 to +2). On average, pro-legalisation articles were re-published more often (2.3 vs 1.5 times for anti-reform), received better website placement (52% of articles published in the prime website section) and had more Facebook interactions (mean 1129 vs 771 for anti-reform). Ninety six per cent of articles were shared on Facebook, including via paid advertising. The principal pro-legalisation campaigner spent four times as much on Facebook advertising as the principal anti-legalisation campaigner. The networked map of Facebook posts illuminated links between digital media and cannabis advocacy. We find that pro-legalisation campaign dominated the digital information space, while the anti-legalisation campaign relied on traditional media, such as billboards. Combining media sentiment analysis with network analysis of social media posts provided new insights into the cannabis referenda debate

Advertising · Business · Cannabis · Newspaper · Political science · Politics · Psychiatry · Public relations · Referendum · Social media · Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Law · Medicine