Magazines Pull Tobacco Ads

Laura B. Weiss -- School Library Journal, 7/5/2005

Although editions of Time, Newsweek, People, and Sports Illustrated destined for the classroom already are shorn of tobacco ads, now versions of those magazines headed for school library racks must jettison the ads as well. The action came as part of an agreement between publishers, tobacco companies, and the state attorneys general (AG), according to the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) who announced the agreement June 20.

In 2003, the AG’s reached an agreement with publishers to arrange for classroom editions of the magazines used by teachers to have tobacco ads removed. Officials said the latest agreement was needed because school libraries often don’t subscribe to the special classroom editions but instead subscribe to the regular magazines. As a result, many elementary and secondary school students are exposed to tobacco advertising when they read magazines in their school libraries. The agreement will help eliminate such advertising from the school library copies of four magazines with very high youth readerships—Time, Newsweek, People, and Sports Illustrated.