Anna Wood (schoolgirl) - Media Coverage and Moral Panic

Media Coverage and Moral Panic

Wood's death was widely reported in the media and represented a change in how ecstasy-related stories were covered. Whereas previous ecstasy-related incidents had received minimal coverage and were reported in the context of crime, delinquency and secrecy, Wood's death was extensively covered and turned into a warning against illicit drug-use in society. It was initially put forward in the media that the ecstasy tablet taken by Wood was probably laced with heroin or morphine—the purported cause of her death—but the coroner's report determined that only MDMA was present in Wood's body.

The initial coverage of the event was soon followed by media stories ranging from concerns about drug-use in Australian teenagers to attacks on techno music and raves for their corrupting influence on youth. The Phoenician Club in particular was singled out, with calls to have the venue closed down, a move endorsed by the then NSW Premier, Bob Carr. In the event, the club was allowed to continue to run but it had to abandon hosting dance parties. The death of Anna Wood also fuelled perceptions that drug-taking was a serious problem among Australian teenagers, even though a NSW AMA report from the time established that only 3% of 14–19 year olds had used ecstasy. Rave culture in Australia and Wood's death was documented on the popular Australian television news program 60 Minutes in 1996, creating further debate.

The intensity of the media coverage can be explained to a degree by Wood's appearance as an average, middle class "good girl" whose life had been tragically taken from her. She did not fit the stereotype of the street-living junkie and so was turned into an object of sympathy instead. She was the child that "everyone could relate to", an, as a result, was used as a warning to prevent further moral outrages. Wood's death was sympathetically covered by Bronwyn Donaghy in a book on the event entitled Anna's Story in 1996. It raised similar concerns in the media that drug-taking was a problem among youth and argued against drug decriminalisation as a response to Wood's death.

While her death renewed calls for a more hardline approach to be taken on drugs in the media and by politicians, critics pointed out that this "zero tolerance" approach may have scared Wood's friends into not taking her immediately to a hospital where her life could have been saved.