It looks like a cigarette, it tastes like a cigarette, it feels like a cigarette, but it ISN'T a cigarette... Is it?

It seems like lawmakers have enough problems trying to regulate the tobacco industry, but now they have to manage a "fake" tobacco industry as well. E-cigarettes, or electronic cigarettes, are battery-operated devices that generally contain cartridges filled with nicotine, flavor and other chemicals. The e-cigarette turns nicotine, which is highly addictive, and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user. Many controversies surround e-cigarettes. As a new product introduced in the past five years, not much information is known about its health effects.

Furthermore, e-cigarettes are marketed and sold to young people, available online and at shopping malls. Smoking Everywhere, an electronic cigarette company based in Florida, has an agreement before you enter their website that makes the user agree he/she is at least 18 or 21 (depending on the tobacco laws in their state), but what is stopping youth under the age of 18 from clicking "agree"? The web site also sells e-cigarettes (shown in the picture above) and what is stopping the young adults who illegally enter the web site from buying e-cigarettes? E-cigarettes are not cigarettes, but if they are available to young adults who cannot legally smoke, will constant use of something that looks like a cigarette, is used like a cigarette and contains the addictive substance nicotine lead young adults to switch to the real thing once they hit 18? The Food and Drug Administration was concerned about the safety of e-cigarettes, and in July 0f this year they released a news release that warned against potential dangers of e-cigarettes. Here are some highlights to their findings:

The FDA’s Division of Pharmaceutical Analysis analyzed the ingredients in a small sample of cartridges from two leading brands of electronic cigarettes. In one sample, the FDA’s analyses detected diethylene glycol, a chemical used in antifreeze that is toxic to humans, and in several other samples, the FDA analyses detected carcinogens, including nitrosamines. These tests indicate that these products contained detectable levels of known carcinogens and toxic chemicals to which users could potentially be exposed.

The FDA has been examining and detaining shipments of e-cigarettes at the border and the products it has examined thus far meet the definition of a combination drug-device product under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The FDA has been challenged regarding its jurisdiction over certain e-cigarettes in a case currently pending in federal district court. The agency is also planning additional activities to address its concerns about these products.

Another concern that arises from e-cigarettes is that users can circumvent smoking bans because they are "vaping" rather than "smoking." Users can use e-cigarettes in restaurants, workplaces and airports - places where cigarettes are usually banned - because e-cigarettes do not emit smoke (they emit a vapor). I found the following diagram in a NY Times article, and I found it and the article very informative in regards to e-cigarettes.

The Times article says you can buy an e-cigarette starter kit for about $100 to $150. The pink e-cigarette at the beginning of this entry was listed as costing $99. An LA Times article about e-cigarettes says "a kit costing $70 to $100 will last a pack-a-day smoker perhaps 10 days." For smokers who smoke less than a pack a day, e-cigarettes may actually cost more than the real thing. However, heavy smokers who spend over $10 a day on cigarettes (2+ packs a day), e-cigarettes may actually be cheaper, especially with rising taxes on cigarettes.

Another primary concern about e-cigarettes is that they are offered in various candy and fruit flavors and come in a variety of colors (like the pink) that they may attract young people. This seems very similar to the ban recently passed by the FDA on REAL candy and fruit flavored cigarettes in an attempt to curtail youth smoking.

The Electronic Cigarette Association, or ECA, is an association of private sector companies engaged in electronic cigarette technologies. The ECA says on its website that it needs your help to ensure the survival of the e-cigarette as an alternative to a known killer. Although this seems extremely noble, I cannot help but think back to the LA Times article I read that says this year (2009) e-cigarette sales are expected to reach $100 million. Are they really concerned about our health, or is it just a ploy to put money into their own pockets?

I'm not going to make any assumptions, but go to their website and you can be the judge.

Hollywood's not America

Celebrity obsession seems harmless when we duplicate silly things such as fashion trends and hairstyles, but what happens when the obsession goes too far? Celebrities may be beautiful, glamourous, and loaded with cash, but are they good role models for America's youth? Take these questions into consideration:

(1) What constitutes a role model? Qualities such as beauty and fame, OR qualities such as brains, ambition, drive, honesty, and kindness? Sadly, it seems many young girls look to celebrity role models because of the former and not the latter.

(2) Hollywood is not "America." This is a song by Ferras, and I think it makes a good point. Celebrities often indulge in a variety of dirty habits, such as excessive drug use and reckless partying - not your typical American lifestyle. Female celebrities in particular seem to be getting thinner and thinner. "Thin may be in" in Hollywood, but it becomes dangerous when young girls take the idea of a thin body image too far and it adversely affects their health.

So celebrities may not be the best role models, but regardless of their shortcomings, we continue to duplicate their behavior. Is it possible we can admire a certain celebrity to such a great extent that our own personal values get thrown on the back burner behind blinded idolization? Smoking is pervasive in celebrity culture. Although celebrities try their hardest not to get caught lighting up in front of the paparazzi, it looks like someone, or rather MANY someones, have been caught red handed.

Similar to the body image issue, female celebrities receive the brunt of criticism for smoking cigarettes. Gawker points it out in this article and from my research online and personal celebrity gossip experience it seems to hold true. I may be unconsciously searching for female smokers since I am a female, but I think it may be due to the fact that young girls seem to be more impressionable to celebrity culture than their male counterparts. This article from the New York Daily News seems to focus on female celebrity smokers as well.

I looked to see if two of my favorite Hollywood icons, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn, were smokers, and I could not find evidence that they were regular smokers, but it is evident from their movies and pictures that they smoked cigarettes at least on occasion.

Yes that is a cigarette in Audrey's mouth! Granted that during these starlets' time the ill-fated effects associated with smoking were still unknown and smoking was seen as elegant and trendy.

Does that trend still hold today? Will the glamour and beauty that female celebrities possess make everything they do beautiful and glamourous as well? I must admit I was extremely surprised when I read in another New York Daily News article that MTV reality star Lauren Conrad is a smoker. Although I would not say I look to Lauren as a role model, I do think she is a smart girl and a hard worker and I will admit I am envious of her glamorous career in the fashion industry and trendy L.A. lifestyle. For a second I caught myself thinking: "Hmm if Lauren does it [smokes cigarettes], maybe its not so bad," and then I realized that I was getting caught in the awe of celebrity I am currently condemning. But then I thought again, and I realized that it is not the glamour of Lauren's lifestyle that I envy, it is the fact that a small town girl (much like myself) moved to the big city with big dreams and made them come true. Seeing Lauren makes me realize that a regular girl who is smart, hard-working and determined can be successful. I'm not going to start smoking just because Lauren does it, who even knows if it is true? Hopefully other young women who follow celebrity trends will stick to fashion tips and realize that even though smoking can be a "celebrity" dirty habit, the celebrity label does not make smoking any less harmful to your health.

Pretty in Pink

Little girls love pink, and now that I am a "big girl," I still can't get enough of everything and anything pink. The walls of my room at home are dubbed by my parents as "Pepto Bismol Pink" and my room at school dons a more subtle pastel pink. My sheets are bright pink zebra print and I even have a pink cell phone. A lot of my belongings are alotta pink, but not because I have some crazy obsession (well... maybe a little) but because products marketed to teens and young girls are pink pink pink! Take a look at Victoria's Secret, their successful Pink! line is the personification of the color: fun, girlie, youthful, comfortable, silly, cute, sexy, wild, sassy... and the list goes on and on. Or what about my best childhood girlfriend, Barbie? The Barbie website may be the one thing in this world pinker than my Pepto Bismol bedroom.

So all of these brands use pink to target young women, no big deal right? It is a smart marketing and branding scheme to say the least. So when cigarette companies try to get in on the pink craze, why does everyone get so upset? Cigarette companies are just trying to advertise and sell their product like everyone else, right? Oh, wait, I guess there is a small difference: my hoodie from Victoria's Secret doesn't cause cancer.

I remember looking at Virginia Slims ads in a previous communications class, and as I was searching the internet for the old ads from the late 60's and 70's with the slogan "You've come a long way, baby," I came across a new cigarette that Philip Morris USA has developed for Virginia Slims called the "Purse Pack." The Purse Pack has pink, sleek rectangular packaging with square ends. The 20 cigarettes the pack holds are slimmer in diameter than a typical cigarette.

Learn more about the Purse Pack from this article written for USA Today. Here is another

interesting article from BrandWeek.

Virginia Slims are not the only brand of cigarettes marketed towards women. Camel No. 9 cigarettes are also designed to appeal to women. The packs are pink and black in color and the longer 100's are marketed as stiletto, referring to the sky high heels that are always in style and a classic symbol synonymous for femininity. Although I smoked Marlboro Lights, on occasion I would buy a pack of No. 9's, not because I liked the cigarettes - I actually dislike the flavor of Camel cigarettes - but solely for the pink packaging (the cigarettes themselves are pink too, with a little camel on the end).

The Center for Disease Control has studied the effects of tobacco on women and the Surgeon General's latest report on women and smoking was conducted in 2001.

There is no doubt that these marketing techniques used to attract women to certain cigarette brands are effective, but are such ads ethical? Shame on the cigarette companies for luring young women to smoke with pretty packaging and glitzy advertisements, OR, perhaps shame on us as consumers. Cigarette companies operate with a goal of selling as much as their product as possible, but that doesn't mean we have to buy it. In an age where we are marketed to constantly by brands of every kind, perhaps we need to start acting as smart consumers and not be fooled by every ad that is put in front of us. If you look behind the pink, the glitz and the glamour of female branded cigarettes, all you'll find is a cloud of smelly and cancerous smoke.

Click here to watch a video about cigarettes branded towards women.

Thats all folks!

Wrapping up my live blogging for our guest lecturer Mr. Duffy, I highlight one of the questions brought up about the concerns of new media: With new media, do we need mainstream journalists anymore? I believe we do, but that these journalists should be knowledgable about the new media that is out there.

And... we're back

Continuing our guest lecture, Mr. Duffy continues to talk about new media. He names a number of postitives and negatives of new media.
The positives include:
- everything is archived: when people have questions they are able to go to Michigan Radio's website; online archives also help to lower the workload for journalists
- connecting to the audience: Facebook friends can voice their opinion, online chat forums and Q and A sessions
- Promotion
- Crowd sourcing: this involves using the crowd that exists on your website as sources. Mr. Duffy gave the example that when GM announced that it was closing dealerships in Michigan, they went to Twitter to find out which dealerships had "gotten the letter."
- speed

The negatives include:
- overworked and undermanned staff and always having to work at a constant pace
- not enough money to do it right
- The 'so what' factor: is 3000 Facebook friends really important?

Live from Comm 439... its Vince Duffy

Today in our Comm 439 class we have a guest lecturer, Vince Duffy. Mr. Duffy is the news director at Michigan Radio. Mr. Duffy has been telling us about his job at Michigan Radio, stressing the importance of multimedia journalism. All of the different mediums that we use to consume our news is converging, meaning the boundaries between different media (E.g. television, radio, and the Web) are quickly disappearing. Having a presence online is becoming increasingly important for all news outlets, and Mr. Duffy gives us examples by showing us Michigan Radio's website and Facebook page. Although there are 540,000 listeners who tune into Michigan radio each morning, that number no longer matters - what matters the most now to Mr. Duffy's bosses are the number of fans on Michigan Radio's Facebook page, which after six months has reached about 3000. What this means for journalists is that we must be able to know how to do everything - to write well, audio, video, photography - in order to be successful in this day and age.

Code of Ethics

1) Report the news as truthfully as possible.

- The absolute truth may be an intangible goal, but I aim to be as accurate and fair as possible in my writing.

2) Be accurate with sources.

- I will always be careful when using sources in my writing, trying to find two or three in order to verify (E.g. three sources agree on a given subject) or to give light to opposing sides of a story (E.g. two sources with two different viewpoints).

- I will also be careful when using anonymous sources, making sure to keep in mind their motives and making sure that if I use an anonymous source, I know their information is trustworthy or that other [anonymous] sources can back up my source.

3) Minimize harm.

- I will always put into consideration the feelings of others, trying not to violate their personal privacy.

- I will also make sure to respect the personal beliefs of others (cultural values, religion, etc.)

4) Avoid any conflicts of interest.

- If there is a potential conflict of interest (E.g. I write about a student organization in which I am a part of) I will make sure to disclose this to the audience in order to be as transparent as possible and maintain credibility.

5) Be accountable.

-If I make a mistake in factual error or harm an individual/group of individuals in my writing, I will admit said mistake and correct it as quickly and thoroughly as possible.