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The ITV show, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! has recently been back on UK television screens for its 12th series. Celebrity contestants are required to live a basic existence in the Australian Jungle, deprived of luxury items, comforts and given only the most meagre of food rations. One thing which does not appear to be limited is the supply of cigarettes. ITV has repeatedly broadcast images of the celebrities, young and old, smoking which conveys the message that “it is reasonable to ask a celebrity to live without food, but abstaining from smoking for the purposes of entertainment cannot be justified”.
Smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness and premature death, accounting for approximately 81,400 deaths in England each year. Public health campaigns and recent government legislation have been focussed on de-normalising smoking. Moreover there is compelling evidence that children’s attitudes to smoking are influenced by depictions of smoking on screen [1,2]. For this reason the broadcasting code is clear that in programmes likely to be widely seen by children and young people, smoking must not be condoned, encouraged or glamorized unless there is editorial justification [3].
I’m a Celebrity was watched by an audience of 10.25 million people, 956,000 of whom were between the ages of 4-15 with a further 24% of the audience being between 16-34 years old [4]. ITV have recently been accused of failing in their duty of care after Brian Connelly, the comedian and a contestant on the show had to leave the programme for medical reasons [5]. The portrayal of smoking on the show to an impressionable audience represents a failure of their duty of care to the wider public and a reckless disregard for Richard Doll’s legacy.
Catherine Free
Glenfield Hospital, Leicester
Nicholas Hopkinson
NIHR Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton, London
References
1. Morgenstern M, Poelen EAP, Scholte R, et al. Smoking in movies and adolescent smoking: cross-cultural study in six European countries. Thorax. 2011;66:875-83.
2. Waylen AE, Leary SD, Ness AR, et al. Cross-sectional association between smoking depictions in films and adolescent tobacco use nested in a British cohort study. Thorax. 2011;66:856-861.
3. The Ofcom Broadcasting Code February 2011. www.ofcom.org.uk
4. Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board figures. Week 5-11th November 2012. www.barb.co.uk
5. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/nov/21/viewer...
Re: The legacy of the tobacco colossus Richard Doll
The ITV show, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! has recently been back on UK television screens for its 12th series. Celebrity contestants are required to live a basic existence in the Australian Jungle, deprived of luxury items, comforts and given only the most meagre of food rations. One thing which does not appear to be limited is the supply of cigarettes. ITV has repeatedly broadcast images of the celebrities, young and old, smoking which conveys the message that “it is reasonable to ask a celebrity to live without food, but abstaining from smoking for the purposes of entertainment cannot be justified”.
Smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness and premature death, accounting for approximately 81,400 deaths in England each year. Public health campaigns and recent government legislation have been focussed on de-normalising smoking. Moreover there is compelling evidence that children’s attitudes to smoking are influenced by depictions of smoking on screen [1,2]. For this reason the broadcasting code is clear that in programmes likely to be widely seen by children and young people, smoking must not be condoned, encouraged or glamorized unless there is editorial justification [3].
I’m a Celebrity was watched by an audience of 10.25 million people, 956,000 of whom were between the ages of 4-15 with a further 24% of the audience being between 16-34 years old [4]. ITV have recently been accused of failing in their duty of care after Brian Connelly, the comedian and a contestant on the show had to leave the programme for medical reasons [5]. The portrayal of smoking on the show to an impressionable audience represents a failure of their duty of care to the wider public and a reckless disregard for Richard Doll’s legacy.
Catherine Free
Glenfield Hospital, Leicester
Nicholas Hopkinson
NIHR Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton, London
References
1. Morgenstern M, Poelen EAP, Scholte R, et al. Smoking in movies and adolescent smoking: cross-cultural study in six European countries. Thorax. 2011;66:875-83.
2. Waylen AE, Leary SD, Ness AR, et al. Cross-sectional association between smoking depictions in films and adolescent tobacco use nested in a British cohort study. Thorax. 2011;66:856-861.
3. The Ofcom Broadcasting Code February 2011. www.ofcom.org.uk
4. Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board figures. Week 5-11th November 2012. www.barb.co.uk
5. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/nov/21/viewer...
Competing interests: No competing interests