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300213
Media coverage of restaurants and bars that voluntarily went smokefree
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Naphtali Offen, BS
,
Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Patricia A. McDaniel, PhD
,
Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Ruth E. Malone, RN, PhD, FAAN
,
Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Background: Despite the risks to employees and customers posed by secondhand smoke, only half of U.S. states prohibit smoking in all restaurants and/or bars. Nonetheless, many business owners have implemented voluntary policies banning smoking in their establishments. Media coverage may encourage others to follow suit by providing positive publicity and influencing public and organizational opinion. Methods: We searched three online media databases for news items published 1995-2011, coding retrieved items through a collaborative process. We analyzed the volume, type, provenance, and prominence of coverage, and content that might influence wider adoption of this voluntary policy, including business owners’ reasons for going smokefree, reported customer reaction, and the overall impression of the policy conveyed. Results: We found 1,001 news items covering both independent and chain businesses; news items included features, letters to the editor, and opinion pieces. The majority were published in local newspapers. 30% of items appeared on the front page of a newspaper or section; 19% of items were accompanied by a photo. Primary reasons cited for going smokefree were to accommodate nonsmokers and to protect health. Customer reaction was reportedly more likely to be positive than negative. The overall impression of the policy conveyed in news items was also largely positive. Conclusions: Restaurants and bars voluntarily establishing smokefree venues attracts media attention that is largely supportive. Advocates can use this knowledge to promote such policies among business owners in jurisdictions without clean indoor air laws, or to lay the groundwork for legislative action.
Learning Areas:
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the extent and content of media coverage of restaurants and bars that voluntarily prohibited smoking.
Identify why restaurants and bars went smokefree, its impact, and customer response.
Discuss the implications for efforts to extend voluntary policies or replace them with mandatory policies.
Keyword(s): Tobacco Control, Media
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am one of the primary authors of this research and have been studying the behavior of the tobacco industry for 13 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
