Content analysis of Dutch newspaper coverage of three tobacco control policies, 2017-2019.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

News media coverage can influence support for and implementation of tobacco control policies. This research aims to analyse and compare newspaper coverage of newly implemented policies: a substantial tobacco tax increase, point-of-sale display ban and plain packaging.

Design

We conducted a content analysis of articles covering the three policies from ten national Dutch newspapers. Articles published between November 2017 and November 2019 were coded for type and tone. The policy dystopia model was used to code arguments opposing the policies. Tobacco industry appearances in news articles were also analysed for frequency and type.

Results

A total of 134 news articles were analysed, of which the industry appeared in 28%. The majority of coverage was neutral i

SUBMITTER: Poole NL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9923323 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature