Plain Packaging of Cigarettes - Seminar

The use of plain packaging on cigarettes is an issue covered extensively by the Australian media. Some are for it and some, against.

Good Afternoon. Today I am going to speak to you about how different media texts position us in regards to the use of plain packaging for cigarettes. Please feel free to jot down any questions you have and I will answer them to my best ability at the end of the seminar.
There have been many media texts published in relation to this issue; today I will deconstruct three relevant ones to demonstrate how the media is positioning us. I will do this through discussing the invited readings, themes, representations, and techniques used such as use of linguistics, emotional appeal and attacks made to devalue someone’s ideas.

The first article I will be looking at is an ABC news internet article and is called Poll finds majority back plain cigarette packaging,. This article is about a survey which has found that the majority of Australians support plain packaging for cigarettes despite a campaign from the tobacco industry’s condemning the move. The dominant discourse presented in this article is political as the government is involved. The purpose of the article is to tell us who is for and who is against the scheme with for being the more popular. The readers are positioned to make a decision to either agree with the federal government or the tobacco industries, as the article does not favour either side of the argument. ‘Quit’ executive director Fiona Sharkie uses negative connotations in her choice of words. For example, she speaks of cigarettes as a ‘deadly product.’ This is an emotional appeal to the audience, some of whom could have lost family members or friends to smoking or are concerned for their own health. Former tobacco marketing executive Craig Seitam says that by using plain packaging, brands are going to lose all of their identity and it would also lead to a rise in illegal tobacco smoking. This article is very opinionated on both sides of the argument by use of two opposing person’s interviews.
The coalition is attacked and their ideas devalued when the article chooses the word ‘addicted’ to explain how they continue to accept money from the tobacco industries. This attack is irrelevant to the statistics used in the article and also irrelevant to the invited reading as the coalition are still supporting plain packaging. Statistics show that 59% of respondents from the cancer council news poll support the governments push.

In the Sunday times on May 27th, 2011, a cartoon by Mark Knight was published depicting Tony Abbott on a plain cigarette package having his eyeball surgically looked at, just like the picture on the real cigarette packages. The package on the cartoon says, ‘Accepting Donations from the Tobacco industry causes political blindness.’ The invited reading of this cartoon is to see Tony Abbott as a bad politician regarding the plain packaging issue as he continues to accept donations from tobacco industries. An obvious personal attack is being made on Tony Abbott about his choice to accept these donations therefore devaluing his opinion and decision. Cartoonist Mark Knight clearly focuses on the wrongs of Tony Abbott but Tony is most definitely a silenced character in this cartoon as his opinion of why he is doing the right thing is omitted.
The last piece of media I will be looking at today is a TV commercial titled ‘It won’t work so why do it.’ It provides the opinion of retail shop owners selling cigarettes to the public. According to the advertisement they believe plain packaging will not work as it is already against the law to have cigarettes on display in their shop. The fact that there is no real evidence that it will work is stated which highly supports their opinion. Viewers are positioned to believe that the scheme will not work. The shop owners are slowly morphed from one to the other to show that they all are talking about the same thing and are all of the same opinion. The gestural details of their movements impact the way you cohere what they’re saying. They shake their heads and cross their arms, subconsciously making the audience feel negative towards the topic and sympathise with what they are saying. Ominous music in the background helps the audience to feel like this is a very serious topic and what the people in the commercial are saying really means a lot to them which reinforces the invited reading of plain packaging on cigarettes not working.

In conclusion, in can be clearly seen that different media texts are constructed to position the audience in a certain way, through using persuasive techniques to represent the situation in a particular light.

I am most happy to answer any questions you may now have.