Les salles de consommation à moindre risque dans la presse francophone belge : analyse textométrique à l'aide du logiciel Iramuteq

The media have a crucial role in the construction of representations of social phenomena, and the implementation
of drug consumption rooms (DCR) is no exception. Traditionally, analyses carried out in this area mobilize
qualitative analysis of content to identify arguments and narratives. Our research attempted to tackle the mediatic
coverage of facilities implemented to reduce risks related to drug consumption (DCRs) through a quantitative lens,
opting for a textometric analysis and using the software Iramuteq. Based on a corpus of 599 articles referring to
DCRs taken from Belgian French-speaking press outlets, 3 levels of analysis were carried out: active forms
frequencies across the entire corpus; “top-down hierarchical classification” analysis (known as Reinert method);
analysis of similarities within each class. This paper seeks to review the strengths and weaknesses of a textometric
analysis on the subject. On the one hand, the analysis made it possible to highlight the major universes of meaning
that appear in our corpus, identify different levels of discourse, and understand the existing connections within
each universe. On the other hand, it limited the possible interpretations of perspectives on a same subject,
especially narratives in favour or against DCRs, or the use of promising analytical approaches, such as gender,
implying that combining this method with a closer look at the corpus and the addition of qualitative elements
render the essence of discourses.