Media and Tobacco: how they get the message across!
Answers
Media and Tobacco: How They Get the Message Across
Mass media such as newspaper, radio, television, and social media are some of the channels that air information and campaign against tobacco to the public. With millions of people using these avenues, the message can be rest assured to come across. These media use different approaches to do the job.
In the printed media such as newspapers, there are a handful of information advertisements that aim to help people be aware of the health issues caused by tobacco. Graphic images of diseases in the different parts of the body or a person that is in pain are common pictures found in printed media, most especially in posters. Since most of these advertisements focus on threats involved in tobacco use, they encourage people to stop their vices and live a healthy life.
Radio and television, however, uses the same approach printed media apply. On top of it, these two media also feature life stories of people who suffered the bad effects of tobacco use. Radio listeners and television viewers are expected to relate to these real life experiences and avoid doing the same mistake. Given that radio can use a person’s voice live on air, they make use of it to let the listeners feel with the person’s pain and where he/ she is coming from. The same is true with television where a video or a documentary of the person’s life and his/ her sufferings can be presented for all to see.
Lastly, there is the social media, which are available in the world wide web. While social media sites such as Facebook, Friendster, Twitter, and many others can make use of all the approaches discussed earlier, the real deal in this type of media is campaigns or programs. These programs are commonly organized by groups who are united for awareness and information about tobacco use. With this, people become more involved and more likely to change.
When all these mass media channels are used, the message regarding tobacco use is sent across more successfully. This success can lead to a change in lifestyle of the people who read newspaper, listen to the radio, watch the television, and/ or use the social media sites we now have today.