How does Indian news media report smokeless tobacco control? A content analysis of the gutka ban enforcement.

ABSTRACT: Smokeless tobacco (SLT) products like gutka and paan masala are a growing public health crisis in India. Despite enacting a ban-the highest form of regulation-little is known about implementation progress. The purpose of this study was to look at how enforcement of gutka ban is covered in Indian news media and if media is a reliable source of data. We conducted a content analysis of online news reports (n = 192) from 2011 to 2019. News characteristics such as name and type of publication, language, location, slant and beat coverage, visuals, and administrative focus were quantified. Similarly, news contents were inductively coded to examine dominant themes and the implementation landscape. We found that coverage was initially low but increased after 2016. Overall, news reports were in favo

SUBMITTER: Dsouza V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10042338 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature