This project monitored newspaper coverage on tobacco control issues in major Australian national and state capital city newspapers, as a proxy for the wider news discourse on tobacco issues. We coded a sample of news coverage for tobacco control topic, type of article, mention of tobacco control advocacy groups, and whether the article supported or opposed tobacco control objectives. Overall, coverage of tobacco control issues was more likely to be positive for tobacco control rather than nixed or negative. Over one-fifth of published articles mentioned a tobacco control advocacy group and these articles were more likely to be positive or mixed for tobacco control objectives (rather than negative) and to be more prominent in the newspaper. Studies were also undertaken of news coverage of particular tobacco control issues, including legal cases.
CBRC staff
Prof Melanie Wakefield, Kim McLeod, Dr Emily Brennan, A/Prof Sarah Durkin
Collaborators
Prof Kate Clegg Smith (John Hopkins University), Prof Simon Chapman (The University of Sydney)
Funding
Cancer Council Victoria
Years
2008 - 2013