News
Browse news articles and editorials, or search by topic or year. Click to read the full text, if it's freely available.
2018
Netflix under fire for on-screen smoking
Among TV shows popular with teens and young adults, Netflix had the most portrayals of tobacco use.
Read more...
Why Netflix could be a bad influence on your kids
| New Zealand Herald (19 Mar 2018)
Regardless of why the characters are seen smoking, it's striking that many of the shows included in the study, such as Stranger Things and Fuller House, are aimed at children.
We also know that the normalisation of tobacco use in movies does have a strong impact on a child's risk of future tobacco use," David Hill, chairman for the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Communications and Media told US News and World Report.
Read more...
Streaming services such as Netflix have more sex, violence—and, it turns out, smoking
The Truth Initiative — the nonprofit anti-tobacco organization — released a study that compared seven popular Netflix shows to seven popular broadcast shows. In this sample it found Netflix’s shows featured characters smoking almost three times as often as those produced by broadcast networks like NBC, ABC and CBS.
Read more...
Netflix worst offender in showing smoking in TV shows, watchdog group says
Netflix shows contained 319 “tobacco incidents” — more than twice the number in broadcast and cable TV shows, which had 139, per the watchdog organization’s analysis of top series for the 2015-16 season.
Read more...
Anti-smoking group says more cigarettes in streaming shows may lure younger viewers
[Truth Initiative's Robin] Koval suggests smoking on TV shows could increase if streaming services continue to rapidly expand programming and don’t adopt policies discouraging smoking, like those in place at the broadcast networks.
Read more...
New report from Truth Initiative® illustrates alarming rise of tobacco use in streaming content and pervasive smoking images on cable and broadcast TV
Majority of programs popular with young audiences prominently depict smoking, with "Stranger Things" the worst offender.
Read more...
Vancouver students call out movies promoting smoking in #NotSmokingHot campaign
As the world gets ready for this Sunday’s Academy Awards, some Vancouver students are playing the role of movie critic. [Vancouver students] have kept a close eye on acting and cinematography and spotted something they don't like. Linda Aylesworth tells us what they're doing about it. [VIDEO]
Read more...
Smoking in movies encourages youth to take up the habit, Peterborough (Canada) public health officials say
“We know that there is a direct correlation between youths seeing (smoking) in films and also them beginning to be tobacco consumers or even just trying it,” said Peterborough Public Health peer leader and presenter Meagan Lacombe. “It’s also a concern because films are the last place that tobacco companies can advertise to youth.” [VIDEO]
Read more...
Alberta gov't gets another unhealthy report card on tobacco reduction
| Smoke-Free Alberta (18 Jan 2018)
The [provincial] government received an “F” for failing to protect Alberta youth from the depiction of smoking in youth-rated movies and a “D” for not implementing and enforcing approved legislation to prohibit tobacco sales to minors. [Full report at http://bit.ly/2FYcwdx]
Read more...
Can movie ratings really stop teens from smoking?
“Tobacco companies used to pay studios, directors [and] actors for product placement on the screen,” said [Erika] Sward [of the American Lung Association]. “We know that was one of the ways that the tobacco industry directly marketed their products, many of which were aimed at young people. That was prior to the Master Settlement Agreement with the tobacco companies in 1998, but we still do see a great deal of tobacco use in the movies and on screen. It was way back in 1964 [that] the Surgeon General concluded that smoking causes lung cancer.”
Read more...