Turning free speech into commercial speech: Philip Morris' use of journalists to discredit the EPA report on secondhand smoke. R. D. Hurt, M. E. Muggli, L. B. Becker; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Independent Consultant, St. Paul, MN; University of Georgia, Athens, GA Abstract: Background: Tobacco company documents show that it launched a multifaceted effort to influence journalists in the scientific debate about the harmful effects of secondhand smoke in order to derail the risk assessment on environmental tobacco smoke. Methods: Searches of previously secret internal tobacco industry documents were conducted on-line and at the Minnesota Tobacco Document Depository. Lexis-Nexis was used to locate news stories written by the journalists cited in this paper. Results: To address a potential backlash in public opinion from the 1992 EPA risk assessment, Philip Morris used its public relations firm Burson Marsteller to “build considerable reasonable doubt... particularly among consumers” about the “scientific weaknesses” of the report. Media and political consultant Richard Hines was a key player in carrying out “EPA bashing” for Philip Morris. Steve Parrish, vice president at Philip Morris wrote, “Richard is responsible for a number of articles that have appeared in...major news publications regarding EPA and ETS.” Philip Morris expanded its journalist network by creating a school of journalism through the National Journalism Center (NJC) and planned to “design innovative strategies to communicate our position on ETS through education programs targeting policy makers and the media.” NJC was to “train budding journalists in free market political and economic principles” and was financially supported by Philip Morris. Conclusions: This is the first report to show the extent to which the tobacco industry has gone to influence the print media on the health effects of secondhand smoke. Journalists can fall victim to well orchestrated public relations efforts regardless of their scientific validity. More scrutiny is warranted by professional media organizations that oversee the ethical conduct of their members. Supported by R01 CA90791 "Tobacco Industry Documents on ETS – The Next Front" Abstract No: 6151 Ann's NOTE: Is it only tobacco companies who use such techniques? Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.