The CNN Test

The CNN website was very willing to feed the public's appetite for violent, synthetic drug related crime following the May 26th, 2012 incident in Miami. A search conducted on the website found that prior to May 26th, many of the articles posted about synthetic drug use did not contain violent language or a description of individual violent events. However, after the "Bath Salt Zombie" attack, coverage of synthetic drug use and the violence that can be related to their use increased dramatically on the website.

CNN.com Synthetic Drug Articles Prior to May 26th, 2012
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/19/synthetic-marijuana-just-as-dangerous/

The story posted above was posted to the CNN website on March 19th, 2012. The article basically concerns the unknown effects of the designer drug K2, otherwise known as synthetic marijuana. The frame of the article states that doctors were really unaware of what exactly K2 could do to a young person, but that things like psychosis and memory could be side effects. It also surmises that monitoring your children for "warning sign" could help prevent them from being harmed by the drugs. There is, however, no mention of incidents of violence being linked to synthetic drugs.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/29/justice/emergency-drug-ban/index.html

This second article, posted to CNN.com on February 29th, 2012, concerns an emergency ban on five chemicals used in synthetic drugs like K2 or "Spice." The frame of the article is basically that there had been a dramatic rise in reported overdoses or medical incidents involving synthetic drugs and people 25 years old or younger in 2011. The writer backs up this claim by stating that poison control centers had reported 13,000 cases. The article seems to propose that a ban on the chemicals that are used in synthetic drugs would help to ease the situation. But again, even with the mention of the 13,000 "incidents" involving synthetic drugs, nowhere in the article is there any mention of violent acts being committed while someone was using them.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/14/1-in-9-high-school-seniors-using-synthetic-marijuana/

This third article, posted to CNN's website on December 14th, 2011, talks about an alarming study that found that 11% of high school seniors reported that thay had used synthetic marijauna in 2011. The basic frame of the article states that while alcohol and tobacco use has dropped consistently among teenagers (although not at necissarily significant rates), synthetic drug use seemed to be on the rise. The article uses statistics from the Office of National Drug Control Policy to provide a sense of accuracy to the story. But as far as fairness of information goes, comparing 64% of high school seniors who said they drank alcohol to 11% of seniors who said they had "tried" synthetic marijuana could be seen as distorting the publics view on the issue.

CNN Synthetic Drug Articles Post May 26th, 2012
After May 26th, coverage of synthetic drugs and violence on the website start to become interchangeable and "related." Also, the articles many times start to contain individual incidents of violence or psychosis that may or may not have been due to synthetic drug use.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/29/reports-miami-zombie-attacker-may-have-been-using-bath-salts/?iref=allsearch

This article, published on May 29th, concerns the original Miami 'Bath Salt Zombie' attack. The article states that Miami Police officers believed that the attacker may have been under the influence of 'bath salts.' Furthermore, the article contains statements from a witness to the crime, who describes how 31-year old Rudy Eugene was chewing off the face of another man. Also, the article contains a statement from a police officer familiar with the crime who states that bath salts cause people to "go completely insane and become very violent." The author also states that four other similiar "drug related" attacks had occurred in the Miami-Dade area recently. The article also contains links to articles entitled "Why Bath Salts Are So Dangerous" and "Zombie Apocalypse Trending as Bad News Spreads Quickly." The frame is obviously trying to lead readers to believe that synthetic drugs are responsible for extremely horrific crime, even though the incident the article covers states that it was unclear whether or not Rudy Eugene was under the influence of bath salts. The article starts to lose credibility because it makes assumptions about synthetic drugs and bases these assumptions off of individual testimony that had not been researched.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/31/justice/maryland-alleged-cannibal/index.html?iref=allsearch

The article above was posted on June 1st, 2102, and was included in a website search for 'bath salts'. The article was posted five days after the May 26th incident in Miami. The article concerns the murder and dismemberment of a Maryland man by his roomate. The article basically uses testimony from the suspected killers family (who gave accounts of discovering the remains) and the police to tell the story, and also states that the accused admitted to the crime, which gives it a certain bias but also credibility. The article basically says that the man was guilty. The specific details about the murder that are given in the article are especially gruesome, but nowhere in the article is there any information that says the killer was on bath salts. And yet the CNN search engine suggests the story even though it doesn't contain any of the key words from the search. Furthermore, a link to a story about a cannibalistic murder that took place in Canada is posted in the middle of the article, as well as link to the original Rudy Eugene/Bath Salt Zombie article is provided.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/01/overheard-on-cnn-com-are-we-all-zombies/

The blog posting above, posted on June 1st, 2012, basically talks about the increase in coverage of violent,  cannabalistic crime that had occurred in the week prior. the article was suggested during a search for 'bath salts' that was done on the site search bar. The writer basically sums up the events and then gives postings that had been made by readers concerning the events. The blogger asks if the term "zombie" should be used and then actually asks if public fascination with violence has helped fuel the coverage. Ther is really a vary vague frame being presented, but the author and the site are definately capitalizing on the public's intense interest in extremely violent crime. Again, the middle of the article provides links to other hyper-violent news articles, including a story in which Rudy Eugenes mother defends her son.