Learning Objectives: Identify specific examples of manipulative language styles and constructions found in a sample of tobacco industry documents
Abstract: Problem/Objective
The archive of several million tobacco industry documents reveals campaigns to influence public opinion in order to cultivate a favorable environment for tobacco sales. Previous studies investigated overt strategies such as disinformation and influence buying. Subtle strategies manipulating linguistic style have been subjected to less scrutiny, however. The present study elucidates patterns of language shift when tobacco industry sources address the press, as compared to addressing corporate insiders.
Methods
Thirty-five sets of industry documents have been located such that for each set, the topic is held constant (e.g., denying engineering of nicotine levels). In one instance, however, a document addresses an industry-internal audience and another instance the document is modified as a press statement. Computer programs detect language features like hedging terms (“nearly,” “might”) or passive sentences in which the subject is deleted.
Results
This analysis is on-going, as the corpus of cross-audience messages is still being identified. Pilot results at this time, however, suggest that statements to the press are characterized by linguistic expressions of certainty, whereas messages to industry-internal audiences are more tentative. Industry-internal documents appear laden with statements conveying emotionality, whereas press releases are written in a more abstract, informational style.
Discussion
These preliminary results do suggest that tobacco industry communicators craft messages for the press at the levels of word choice and grammatical structure. The resulting style evokes an aura of confidence and objectivity. Tobacco control communicators might debate the ethics and efficacy of emulating this style in their own press relations.
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