Major policy themes in newspaper coverage of the tobacco settlement debate, 1997–98
| Theme1-150 | Number of times mentioned | Number of mentions in headline or first four paragraphs | Percentage of all mentions appearing in headline or first four paragraphs | Number of times theme appeared as major focus of article | Percentage of articles in which theme appeared as major focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public health policy aspects | |||||
| FDA authority | 138 | 45 | 33% | 31 | 26% |
| Advertising restrictions | 76 | 16 | 21% | 26 | 22% |
| Allocation of revenue for antismoking campaign | 28 | 4 | 14% | 5 | 4% |
| Secondhand smoke | 13 | 3 | 23% | 4 | 3% |
| Youth access | 12 | 5 | 42% | 4 | 3% |
| Adult cessation | 11 | 2 | 18% | 2 | 2% |
| Financial aspects | |||||
| Generation of new revenue | 269 | 73 | 27% | 52 | 44% |
| Cigarette tax/price increase | 191 | 46 | 24% | 38 | 32% |
| Industry payments/penalties | 67 | 14 | 21% | 12 | 10% |
| Farmer support | 56 | 16 | 29% | 8 | 7% |
| Civil justice aspects | |||||
| Immunity in general | 180 | 53 | 30% | 39 | 33% |
| Ban on punitive damages | 38 | 10 | 26% | 6 | 5% |
| Annual liability caps | 34 | 12 | 35% | 5 | 4% |
| Ban on class action suits | 27 | 2 | 7% | 3 | 3% |
| Elimination of third party payer suits | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
↵1-150 See Methods for explanation of policy themes.