{
  "abstract": "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.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Humanities, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad Campus, Islamabad, Pakistan",
    "Centre for Languages and Translation Studies, University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Pakistan"
  ],
  "article_type": "Research Article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Saad Zahid"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Muhammad Nawaz"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kanwal Zahra"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1xr4dajpv01ej.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0356760",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "1xr4dajpv01ej",
  "issns": [
    "1932-6203"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0356760",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3315|Media Studies and Communication"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Addiction/Addicts/Drug users"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Addiction/Drug addiction"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Behavior/Drug abuse"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Computer and information sciences/Information technology/Natural language processing"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Mental health and psychiatry/Substance-related disorders/Drug addiction"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Pharmacology/Drug research and development"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Public and occupational health/Substance-related disorders/Drug addiction"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/People and places/Geographical locations/Asia/Pakistan"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Law and legal sciences/Criminal justice system/Law enforcement"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Psychology/Addiction/Addicts/Drug users"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Psychology/Addiction/Drug addiction"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Psychology/Behavior/Drug abuse"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Sociology/Criminology/Crime/Human trafficking"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213368314",
  "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0356760&type=printable",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-15",
  "publisher": "Public Library of Science",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1xr4dajpv01ej.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:50Z",
      "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0356760",
      "source": "plos",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0356760"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "plos:public and occupational health",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    },
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "plos:pharmacology",
      "subfield": "pharmacology-toxicology"
    },
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "plos:mental health and psychiatry",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Representation of drug addiction in Pakistani print media: A Latent Dirichlet Allocation analysis",
  "title_text": "Representation of drug addiction in Pakistani print media: A Latent Dirichlet Allocation analysis",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:50Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1xr4dajpv01ej",
  "venue": "PLOS One",
  "versions": []
}