The Tobacco Problem:Public Health Implications of Contested Frames

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To describe the tobacco industry's corporate social responsibility initiatives and asses their implications for tobacco control, and to analyze the impact of these initiatives on media framing of th industry and smoking behavior. Tobacco use is the most important single preventable cause of death an disease in the U.S., increasing risks for lung and other cancers and other serious illnesses. Considerabl evidence suggests that in addition to individual behavior change, interventions to prevent tobacco relate cancers must focus on changing the cultural and policy contexts of tobacco use. Industry delegitimizatio and isolation strategies, including media campaigns, have contributed to building a nationwide grassroot movement against tobacco use and countering industry efforts to derail local smokefree policies, which hav been shown to be effective in reducing tobacco use. However, the ongoing effectiveness of suc approaches may be jeopardized by the tobacco industry's recent, aggressively-promoted corporatesocia responsibility initiatives. Specific Aims: #1) Retrieve and analyze tobacco industry documents in order t describe tobacco industry efforts to: a) use corporate social responsibility initiatives for public relations an marketing purposes; b) sustain and increase the social acceptability of smoking; c) use corporate socia responsibility initiatives to influence tobacco control policymaking; d) position corporate social responsibilit initiatives as a defense against litigation; e) establish itself as a source of health information; f) creat alliances with public health groups, both tobacco- and non-tobacco-related; g) sow divisions within th tobacco control movement; and h) undermine tobacco control efforts that focus on smoking denormalizatio and tobacco industry delegitimization. #2): Assess the influence of tobacco industry corporate socia responsibility initiatives on media framing of a) the tobacco industry and b) smoking behavior. Thi descriptive project will utilize archival research and content and frames analyses.This innovative study o tobacco industry corporate social responsibility efforts will provide new knowledge essential for formulatin proactive public health responses to these industry initiatives, and contribute to theoretical understandings o framing in relation to public health issues. In addition, it will enhance understanding of the industry's role i promoting the social acceptability of smoking.