Magazines agree to remove tobacco ads

The National Association of Attorneys General announced yesterday that an agreement has been reached to eliminate tobacco advertising from school library editions of four major magazines with high youth readership.

The agreement was reached with Time Inc. (which publishes Time, People and Sports Illustrated), and Newsweek, Inc. (which published Newsweek).

This agreement is being touted as the latest step in a continuing effort by the attorneys general to reduce youth exposure to tobacco advertising.

In November 2003, the attorneys general reached an agreement with the major tobacco companies to eliminate tobacco advertising from special “classroom” editions that the publishers create for use in school social studies classes, such as Time and Newsweek.

For instance, a survey conducted by the CNMI Attorney General’s Office and the CNMI Public School System in October 2003 showed that classroom editions of these magazines that contained tobacco advertising were routinely used in CNMI classrooms. In 2003, the tobacco companies agreed to arrange for “selective binding” of these editions, to ensure that all tobacco advertisements would be removed from these “classroom” copies.

Numerous school libraries, however, subscribe to the regular editions of magazines, rather then the special “classroom” editions. As a result, many elementary and secondary school students are exposed to tobacco advertising when they read magazines in their school libraries. The agreement announced yesterday will help eliminate such advertising from the school library copies of four magazines with very high youth readerships: Time, Newsweek, People and Sports Illustrated.

Led by the efforts of New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, the state attorneys general contacted the major tobacco companies in March 2005 asking them to seek “selective binding” arrangements to remove their tobacco advertising from the school library editions of these magazines.

In response, Philip Morris reported that it had previously ceased all advertising in these four magazines, and two other tobacco companies—Santa Fe Natural Tobacco and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company—agreed to seek such “selective binding” arrangements. Meanwhile, Time Inc. and Newsweek Inc. both agreed to create a “selective binding” option for all tobacco companies, thereby ensuring that all tobacco advertising will be removed from these four magazines. These arrangements will be in place this summer, prior to the commencement of the new school year. (PR)