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by tofupup 3366 days ago
"they completely ignore white male citizens of the US are left to rot (and die from opioid abuse and suicide) in West Virginia, etc." :

A simple google search yields :

- http://www.pbs.org/newshour/tag/opioid-abuse/ (1 stories) - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/tag/opioids/ (7 stories) - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/deaths-despair-cutting-life-s...

West Virginia - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/another-west-virginia-to... - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/west-virginia-school-caring-s... - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/early-results-of-w-va-to... - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/sobering-stories-drug-addicti... - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/rural-west-virginia-schools-h... - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/schools-rural-west-virginia-a...

[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.

1 comments

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.
"If there is a program on PBS or NPR about it, it is almost always a young female being interviewed"

I posted the link : http://www.pbs.org/newshour/tag/opioids/

So I read through a few of the stories, and of the first few that focus on the stories of individual addicts all three are white males.

- http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/montanas-pain-refugees-l... - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/opioids-as-a-first-respo... - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/painkillers-controversy-...

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.

"He’s been seeing a lot of dead white males of late, especially ages 45 to 54." : http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/deaths-despair-cutting-life-s...

"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.