Saturday, September 9, 2023

'Beyond Fentanyl' and 'Vice News Tonight' lead Outstanding Health or Medical Coverage at the News & Doc Emmy Awards


I am resuming my coverage of the News & Doc Emmy Awards with the nominees for Outstanding Health or Medical Coverage.
Outstanding Health or Medical Coverage
Fault Lines A Toxic Feed: Social Media and Teen Mental Health Al Jazeera International USA
This Is What a Post-Roe Abortion Looks Like The New York Times
VICE News Tonight Beyond Fentanyl Vice
VICE News Tonight Cuba’s Healthcare Crisis Vice
VICE News Tonight Post-Roe America Vice
Not only is VICE News Tonight's "Beyond Fentanyl" the only nominee with another nomination, VICE News Tonight has two other nominees in this category, comprising three of the show's 28 nominations. Based on that criterion, I expect "Beyond Fentanyl" is the favorite to win this category. Vote-splitting among the other nominees from VICE News Tonight might impede its path to the podium, although that could also affect "Post-Roe America" as it contends with This Is What a Post-Roe Abortion Looks Like by The New York Times. Finally, seeing Al Jazeera International USA reminds me that Al Jazeera America's final Emmy nominations were what got me interested in the News & Doc Emmy Awards in the first place.

Now for the other nomination of "Beyond Fentanyl."

Outstanding Editing: News
Caught on Camera, Traced by Phone: The Russian Military Unit That Killed Dozens in Bucha The New York Times
Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller Cocaine Queens National Geographic
Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller White Supremacy National Geographic
VICE News Tonight Battle for the South of Ukraine Vice
VICE News Tonight Beyond Fentanyl Vice
This category contains two more of VICE News Tonight's nominations, although this is the only nomination earned by "Battle for the South of Ukraine." All of the rest have at least one other nomination. In addition to the nomination for Outstanding Health or Medical Coverage earned by "Beyond Fentanyl," "Caught on Camera, Traced by Phone: The Russian Military Unit That Killed Dozens in Bucha" garnered a nomination for Outstanding Investigative News Coverage: Long Form, Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller's "Cocaine Queens" earned a nomination for Outstanding Writing: News, and Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller's "White Supremacy" has the most, including Outstanding Crime and Justice Coverage and Outstanding Research: News for a total of three. I've already predicted "White Supremacy" will win Outstanding Research: News and I expect it's the favorite to win Outstanding Editing: News, too. It also has the most nominations among the field for Outstanding Crime and Justice Coverage, although ABC's "X / o n e r a t e d – The Murder of Malcolm X and 55 Years to Justice" with two total nominations might give it a run for its money.

I close with Benzo Dope and Tranq: The Next Wave of the Overdose Crisis, the upload title of "Beyond Fentanyl."

More than 100,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2021, the worst year on record. The newest wave of the overdose crisis involves man-made chemicals, including animal tranquilizers, that are being combined with fentanyl to make street drugs that are deadlier and more addictive.

With access to an undisguised fentanyl dealer, Beyond Fentanyl looks at how drugs like “benzo dope” and “tranq” are ravaging North American communities and how U.S. policy affected the latest flood of synthetic street drugs.
Last year, I reported CNBC and PBS report record overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2021 as 107,600 Americans died. Last year saw another record, as NPR reported U.S. drug overdose deaths hit a record in 2022 as some states see a big surge.
Drug deaths nationwide hit a new record in 2022. 109,680 people died as the fentanyl crisis continued to deepen, according to preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Eight states saw drug deaths continue to surge by nine percent or more, with the greatest increases of 21 percent coming in Washington state and Wyoming.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said it's troubling that deaths continue to rise despite the end of disruptions linked to the COVID pandemic.

"That's a very very high level of overdose deaths," Volkow told NPR.

"One could have expected that as many of the challenges imposed by the COVID pandemic were resolved, we would see a deep dive in the number of overdose deaths. It's concerning we have not seen that."
The opioid crisis is getting worse. The official end of the pandemic hasn't improved this crisis at all.

Stay tuned for another installment of this series tomorrow as the Sunday entertainment feature.

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