“Tired of watching customers walk out the door because of the smoke”: a content analysis of media coverage of voluntarily smokefree restaurants and bars

Table 1 Characteristics of news items on restaurants/bars voluntarily going smokefree, 1995-2011 (N = 986)

Variable	Number	Percent
News source
Local newspaper	884	89.7
News wire	90	9.1
National newspaper^a	8	.8
Web-based	3	.3
General audience magazine	1	.1
Geographic region
West	87	8.8
Midwest	378	38.3
South	259	26.3
Northeast	160	16.2
National^b	102	10.3
Story type
News/feature	701	71.1
Blurb^c	55	5.6
Editorial/op-ed	118	12.0
Letter to the Editor	61	6.2
Column	30	3.0
Press release	21	2.1
Op-ed/letter/column/press release written by health advocate	23	11.0
Prominence (newspapers only; n = 892)
Front page	119	13.3
First page of section	173	19.4
Photo	214	24.0
Business type
Restaurant	647	65.6
Bar/restaurant combination	135	13.7
Both restaurants and bars	112	11.4
Bar	66	6.7
Unclear	26	2.6

^aThe New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, and USA Today
^bNews items published in national newspapers, magazines, or on the web, and news items broadcast by National Public Radio or by national television news (CNN, NBC, CBS, FOX, and ABC)
^cBrief announcement, often included in summaries of current events

ISSN: 1471-2458