Framing Public Health Policy and Behavior: Smokeless Tobacco and Major League Baseball

Hall of Fame baseball player Tony Gwynn died last summer at the age of 54, succumbing to salivary gland cancer. Gwynn had used smokeless tobacco during his 20-year career with the Padres, and his passing generated significant conversation about the dangers of smokeless tobacco and its tie to our nation’s pastime. How the conversation was framed in the media, however, could impact if this will be an opportunity seized or missed for prevention and cessation efforts. More specifically, there’s a difference between having knowledge of risks and internalizing that knowledge in a personally meaningful way. Communication of risks plays an impactful role in helping people make the connections necessary to create and build relevance.

The smokeless tobacco conversation generated by Gwynn’s passing provides an interesting case study. This study examines key message frames that emerged from a content analysis of news stories published during the four weeks following Tony Gwynn’s death. Articles discussed smokeless tobacco use in Major League Baseball (MLB), including a renewed interest (and debate) around a policy that would ban smokeless tobacco in the MLB. Key themes that emerged included: costs of use, norms, and respect for personal choice. Personal choice in particular was commonly presented as at odds with a policy change, and potential conversational shifts that may be necessary to address personal choice in the context of leveraging policy to achieve public health goals will be discussed.