Tobacco in the media: analysis of journalistic texts in the year of 2006

Aiming at understanding the relation among health, press and public policies on Tobacco in Brazil, this article analyses the texts about Tobacco published in the Brazilian press in 2006. In the clipping process of eight newspapers and magazines, the information about Tobacco were identified and then submitted to content analysis allowing categorization and classification of the texts. The frequency of the texts in 2006 was compared to that of in 2000 and 2003. We observed a higher prevalence of factual approach among the texts (46.7%). Most of the texts mentioned the negative consequences, such as physical health problems (44.2%), death (20%) and dependence (14.2%). The analysis of the headlines and leadins showed control policies, anti-smoking movements and spreading of results as the main categories observed. The frequency of the articles in 2006 was similar to that of in 2003 and lower to that of in 2000. The journalistic coverage on Tobacco in 2006 was restricted predominantly to harm to health and anti-smoking movements. The high proportion of the factual approach and the stabilization in the frequency of texts (2003-2006) might suggest an impoverishment of the discussion on this issue in the country.