Tobacco Ads Will Be Removed from School Magazines

June 20, 2005
Tobacco ads will be removed from school library editions of four major magazines with high youth readerships under an agreement with the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). The agreement was reached with Time, Inc. (which publishes Time, People and Sports Illustrated), and Newsweek, Inc. (which publishes Newsweek).

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"This is a major success in our continuing efforts to reduce the marketing of tobacco products to children," said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. "I want to applaud Time and Newsweek for joining this effort and helping to remove tobacco advertisements from the school library editions of these magazines. "

This agreement is 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. 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 than 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 today will help eliminate such advertising from the school library copies of four magazines with very high youth readerships – Time, Newsweek, People and Sports Illustrated.

"This is another important step," said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, co-chair of NAAG's Tobacco Committee. "About 2,000 kids become newsmokers every day, and about a third of them will eventually die prematurely from smoking-related disease. Every step we take is important to reduce this terrible death toll."

The agreement announced today was aided by the efforts of youth working under the auspices of the New York State Department of Health Tobacco Prevention Program. These volunteers conducted a statewide survey of 223 middle and high schools in New York, and found that more than 70% of the school libraries had copies of Time, Newsweek, People and Sports Illustrated with tobacco advertising. Moreover, school librarians confirmed that all four magazines are among the most popular magazines read by children in the schools.

Attorney General Spitzer then wrote to 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. At the same time, Attorney General Spitzer’s office contacted the magazines’ publishers, requesting that they permit this "selective binding" option.

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 advertisements will be removed from these four magazines. These arrangements will be in place this summer, prior to the commencement of the new school year.

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