Media attention may be an important factor influencing wider adoption of these innovative policies, as the media play an important role in the diffusion of innovations. Independent pharmacies were among the first, 23–26 followed by some local, regional, and national grocery and discount chains. However, a number of retailers have voluntarily ended tobacco sales. 20Īlthough several cities have outlawed tobacco sales at pharmacies, 21,22 there are as yet few public policy mandates aimed at reducing the number of tobacco retailers. 18,19 The ubiquity of tobacco outlets also undermines a strong public health message that tobacco products are addictive and deadly. 6,7 These observed relationships may be explained by pervasive tobacco advertising (including tobacco displays) in tobacco retail outlets, which triggers smoking among smokers and former smokers 8,9 and encourages smoking initiation by youths 10–17 by enhancing smoking’s apparent popularity and desirability. 1 Tobacco outlet density increases the likelihood of smoking among both minors and adults, 2–5 and living in close proximity to tobacco outlets is associated with unsuccessful quit attempts. Tobacco retailers play a key role in perpetuating the tobacco epidemic. Media advocacy could increase and enhance such coverage.
The content of media coverage about retailers ending tobacco sales could facilitate broader diffusion of this policy innovation, contributing to the denormalization of tobacco and moving society closer to ending the tobacco epidemic. Letters to the editor and editorials were overwhelmingly supportive.Ĭonclusions. News items cited positive potential impacts of the decision more often than negative potential impacts, and frequently referred to tobacco-caused disease, death, or addiction. Two retailers who were the first in their category to end tobacco sales received the most coverage and the majority of prominent coverage. We found 429 local and national news items. We analyzed the volume, type, provenance, prominence, and content of coverage. We searched online media databases (Lexis Nexis, Proquest, and Access World News) for articles published from 1995 to 2011, coding retrieved items through a collaborative process. We examined media coverage of retailers abandoning tobacco sales to explore whether this innovation might be further diffused by media accounts. Media play an important role in the diffusion of innovations by spreading knowledge of their relative advantages.
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