Health Dangers of Tobacco Suppressed

In a letter published in “The Journal of the American Medical Association,” Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan wrote: “Because they are so dependent on the income from cigarette advertisements, many popular magazines downplay the impact tobacco has on health. Having reviewed a number of major women’s magazines, I have not found one important story on tobacco and health.”

Dr. Whelan explained that she was asked to write an article entitled “Protect Your Man From Cancer” for a widely read women’s beauty and fashion magazine. “I was paid in full for the piece,” she notes, “but the editor frankly explained to me that they could use only a small part of it because of my frequent mention of tobacco and the fact that they ran three full-page cigarette ads each month. On other occasions, I have been told up front by the editor of a publication, ‘no columns or stories on tobacco.’”​—November 7, 1980, page 2045.