Fahy, Declan and Trench, Brian and Clancy, Luke (2012) Communicating contentious health policy: lessons from Ireland's workplace smoking ban. Health Promotion Practice, 13, (3), pp. 331-338. doi: 10.1177/1524839909341554.
The Irish workplace smoking ban has been described as possibly a tipping point for public health worldwide. This article presents the first analysis of the newspaper coverage of the ban over the duration of the policy formation process. It adds to previous studies by analyzing how health communication strategists engaged, over time, with a newsworthy topic, viewed as being culturally controversial. It analyzes a sample of media content (n = 1,154) and firsthand accounts from pro-ban campaigners and journalists (n = 10).
The analysis shows that the ban was covered not primarily as a health issue: Economic, political, social, democratic, and technical aspects also received significant attention. It shows how coverage followed controversy and examines how pro-ban campaigners countered effectively the anti-ban communication efforts of influential social actors in the economic and political spheres. The analysis demonstrates that medical-political sources successfully defined the ban's issues as centrally concerned with public health.
G Health and disease > Public health
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Health related issues
MM-MO Crime and law > Substance use laws > Tobacco / cigarette laws
MP-MR Policy, planning, economics, work and social services > Policy > Policy on substance use
N Communication, information and education > Communication
N Communication, information and education > Information use and impact
N Communication, information and education > Information transfer / dissemination > Information transfer from research evidence to practice
VA Geographic area > Europe > Ireland
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