[the next statements are made with the hope of furthering dialog]
Yes, they could do better as far as content, what worries me about your post is your statement "completely ignore" seems to differ from reality.
OK, so "completely ignore" was an exaggeration. They do talk about opioid abuse as a problem in general, but rarely ever mention that the affected segment of the population is about 65% white male (in West Virginia, not sure about other areas). If there is a program on PBS or NPR about it, it is almost always a young female being interviewed - just my subjective observation. Details, but they add up quickly and create an ideological bias, where there should not be.
Although they fall short of giving the specific statistic you quote take a lot at these stories : "white" is in the title and url and they both mention the toll males are taking.
"So, here is a male with no identity. He’s not working. He’s supposed to be a provider for his family. He can’t even do that. So that low self-worth, along with that hopelessness feeling, we start seeing tremendous depression."
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/feeling-falling-behind-fuels-...
I just don't know how you get from "subjective observation" to what I am reading. I stay this as I also worry your perception is alienating you from folks that have your interests in mind as I am doubtful it is the folks calling for cuts do.