Analysis of coverage of the tobacco issue in Mexican print media

Estimate the frequency and manner in which mass media represent tobacco and tobacco control policies. 660 stories published in six Mexican newspapers during 2007 were content analyzed. The majority of the news stories were published in the last quarter of the year, due to discussion of pending local and federal legislation. The vast majority of the stories were in favor of tobacco control policies (49%) or neutral (41%). The most frequently occurring themes in the stories were: legislation (36%), tobacco smoke (28%), economy (24%), and packaging (17%). Actors mentioned were: governmental institutions (24%), legislators (21%), tobacco industry (18%), and national and international non-governmental organizations (7 and 8%, respectively). Advocacy efforts should take advantage of mass media, which appears generally neutral or in favor of tobacco control policies in Mexico.