The use of e-cigarettes is a rising concern for parents around the
world. An e-cigarette, or electronic cigarette, is a battery-powered vaporizer,
which produces a similar feel to tobacco smoking. Since e-cigarettes are a
relatively new product, more and more information about them are revealed
everyday. From this information, news outlets and bloggers broadcast facts
about e-cigarettes in the media, but sometimes, they are biased in what they
report.
News stories should inform the public about a certain event or
trend rather than convince them to take their side on it. They should provide
an article that equally represents an argument for and against or provide one
that takes no stance on the topic. The public should have the right to form
their own opinions and choose their own side after they are presented with all
of the facts about the specific topic.
There are many facts about e-cigarettes that must be considered in order
to produce an unbiased story about them. The first that needs to be considered is
the fact that the number of middle and high school students using electronic
cigarettes tripled from the year 2013 to 2014, according to the government figures that were released. Another
fact is that the popularity of e-cigarettes among teenagers has now overtaken
the popularity of traditional cigarettes. The same government figures that were
previously mentioned state that, from 2011 to 2014, the share of high school
students who smoked traditional cigarettes declined substantially, to 9 percent
from 16 percent. The last fact that needs to be known is that there is no
evidence that e-cigarette smokers turn out to be traditional smokers. A
non-biased news article would not have a specific tone that favored a side, but
remain neutral and present facts for the public to interpret.
I came across two articles and one blog about how the use of
e-cigarettes among teens in the United States is rising and what that holds for
the future. I found articles from The Boston Globe and The Washington Post
and a Blog by Valerie Grison.
The Boston Globe:
I found that the article from The Boston Globe entitled, “E-cigarette
use spikes among American teens, report says”, was the least biased of the
three. It starts with a presentation of the fact that e-cigarette use has
substantially increased in recent years. It then does a good job of presenting
two sides to this fact. One side suggests that some teens are using the newly
developed e-cigarettes to quit smoking cigarettes or marijuana, while the other
suggests that teens are doing it to look cool. It also does a great job of
showing the two sides to another question. This question is whether or not
e-cigarettes are undoing years of progress in influencing teens not to use
nicotine products. Since there is no proof of whether it does or does not, I
think that it was very smart of The Boston Globe to present one statement for
each side. There is a statement from Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, who thinks that
e-cigarettes are more harmful than good, and another from David Abrams (Executive
director of the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies),
who thinks that e-cigarettes are accelerating the gateway out of tobacco use
among teens. This article was definitely covered the best and was the least
biased because it presents views from both sides of the fence and portrays them
equally, allowing the audience to formulate their own opinions.
The Washington Post:
The article form The Washington Post was entitled, “E-cigarette
use triples among middle and high school students, study says”. This article
did a good job of explaining the facts of the situation, but still subtly
suggests that the increasing popularity of e-cigarettes is a problem. This
article also tells us that use of e-cigarettes is increasing among teens and
high school students. Though it does include a snippet from Michael Siegel
(professional and tobacco-control specialist at Boston University) in favor of
e-cigarettes, the majority of the article is about how e-cigarettes are do more
harm than good. This article is somewhat biased because even though it presents
views of those who favor e-cigarettes, the majority of the article is about how
it should be a concern and that the increase in the use of e-cigarettes is not
a good thing. There definitely should have been more about how the rise of
e-cigarettes is a good thing.
The Valerie Grison Blog:
The coverage of this topic in the Valerie Grison Blog was
definitely the worst of the three. The title in itself, “A Dangerous Trend
Among Teens and Tweens: E-Cigarettes” suggests that e-cigarettes are a bad
trend. The entire blog is completely one sided and only provides facts and
statements that are against e-cigarette use. It includes the fact that
e-cigarette use is increasing among teens and continues to provide the audience
with reasons of why they do more bad than good. It does not even mention that
traditional cigarette use has decreased. The blog is a constant feed of
information about how e-cigarettes are bad for you.
To provide a more complete story, this blog should have:
-
Included more statements about how e-cigarettes
are a good trend
-
Included the fact that traditional cigarette use
has lowered for the first time in many years
-
Changed the title to portray a more neutral view
of the topic
-
Presented the information while keeping a
neutral stance