Depiction of tobacco in Indian mass media: A content analysis

Abstract

Background: Although exposure to tobacco content on mass media is a well-grounded source for early initiation, less is known on how tobacco is portrayed in mass media.

Objectives: To determine the proportion of tobacco appearances and the percentage of pro or anti-tobacco messages in the selected print, electronic and internet based Indian mass media.

Methods: The content analysis was conducted among selected categories of: top two daily newspapers in terms of readership, topmost Television channel in terms of viewership and top five trending videos on YouTube. The tobacco appearances in newspaper, television (five minute interval) and YouTube (one minute interval) were recorded and coded as pro or anti-tobacco messages.

Results: Tobacco appearances were present in 0.3% of 9373 [95% CI: 0.2-0.5] advertisements reviewed in Newspapers; all of which were pro-tobacco messages. Among the total 1512 intervals watched on Television, 18.1% [95% CI: 16.2-20.1] had tobacco appearance. There were a total of 289 tobacco incidents in television of which 92.4% were pro-tobacco messages. Out of the total 900 videos watched on YouTube, 11.44% [95% CI: 9.49-13.65] had tobacco appearance. Among the 206 tobacco incidents present in YouTube, 98.5% were pro-tobacco messages.

Conclusions: The study documented considerable extent of pro-tobacco depictions in Indian mass media.

Keywords: Mass media; Public policy; Tobacco.