2. Journalism and illegal drugs, a complex relationship
Abstract
Media coverage of drugs has a lot of deficiencies. Someone's, like the incapacity to specialize in a topic like illegal drugs, are related to job precariousness. Others, which I think are more problematic, with the lack of independence and especially, censorship. This one comes from different ways: the advertisers, the governments, the editor-in-chief or even self-censorship. Fortunately, in recent years different organizations have done interesting works like “Desintoxicando narrativas” (Detoxing Narratives) in Colombia or “Crackdown” in Canada, projects which aim to contribute to change the media coverage about drugs. I've collaborated in one of these guidelines in Spain with Energy Control, convinced that a change of perspectives would be positive for everybody, and especially for journalists in terms of their self-satisfaction.