How Indonesian media portray electronic cigarettes: A content analysis of online news reports from 2012-2017

Abstract

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), of which the health effects are still unknown, are significantly gaining their popularity in Indonesia. A massive news release on the internet talking about e-cigarettes might contribute to robust public’s concern about the use of e-cigarettes that could influence policy makers in considering the regulation of these devices. Therefore, this study aims to analyze how online mass media frame the message of e-cigarettes based upon topics of the story, news source, and coverage of benefits and harms of these products. This study performed a content-analysis method using a variable coding sheet in four popular online news media in Indonesia. This study found 418 articles mentioning about e-cigarettes of which 320 articles (76.6%) were included in the content analysis. Majority of the article (70.9%) have a negative frame and mainly talked about the policy issue of these devices. The news source that was frequently used in the articles is scientist/researcher (34.7%). The studied articles mostly presented harms of e- cigarettes rather than their benefits. Thus, most of the online news media tend to present unfavourable stories about e-cigarettes and might try to influence the readers to oppose these products.