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2860144 
Technical Report 
Role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use. NCI Tobacco Control Monograph Series No. 19 
Davis, RM; Gilpin, EA; Loken, B; Viswanath, K; Wakefield, MA 
2008 
NTIS/02590210 
GRA and I 
GRA and I 
This volume is the 19th of the Tobacco Control Monograph series of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This series began in 1991 with a visionary blueprint for public health action on tobacco prevention and control. In the years since, it has disseminated important crosscutting research in areas such as the effectiveness of community-based and population-level interventions, the impact of tobacco control policies, the risks associated with smoking cigars and low-tar cigarettes, and systems approaches to tobacco control. The subject matter of this monograph stands at the confluence of three major trends of the past century: the growth of mass media, the concomitant rise in cigarette smoking as a social phenomenon, and more recently, research to understand and to decrease the disease burden caused by tobacco use. This publication provides the most comprehensive and critical review and synthesis of the current evidence base in this area, drawing on work from many disciplines and research traditions. There is growing interest in applying what we have learned in tobacco prevention and control to other public health areas (such as dietary behavior). This monograph has important messages for public health researchers, practitioners, and policymakers as well as those in the communication science and media studies communities. This monograph provides a comprehensive assessment of the literature on developing effective pro-health media messages and on policies to control tobacco marketing, both in the United States and abroad. This information is critical to support efforts to reduce the use of tobacco and the morbidity and mortality associated with its use. The evidence presented in this volume also underscores the need to continue to study and understand the ability of protobacco forces to change media strategies to adapt to a changing tobacco control policy environment.