Alan Gor 03 February 2025
The Illusion of a Free Press: How Journalists Are Led by the Nose on Vaping
If you ever needed proof that press conferences are carefully stage-managed performances rather than spontaneous exchanges of ideas, look no further than the recent media spectacle on vaping in Australia. The questions asked by journalists weren’t just predictable; they were carefully shaped to ensure the government’s anti-vaping narrative remained unchallenged.
Let’s be clear: journalists weren’t handed scripts to read. But they might as well have been. The illusion of free inquiry is maintained while, in reality, the questions serve as a tool to reinforce official messaging. The government sets the stage, provides the talking points, and the media obediently plays along.
Pre-Programming the Press
Before press events like this, governments and advocacy groups distribute ‘background briefings’—handy little documents that highlight key issues, offer selective statistics, and conveniently omit inconvenient facts. These documents ensure journalists enter the event already primed to ask the ‘right’ kinds of questions. They subtly guide the narrative while maintaining the appearance of objective journalism.
For example, in this latest press conference, not a single journalist asked:
Has youth smoking declined because of vaping?
What independent evidence exists that vaping is causing harm at a population level?
Why are adults who successfully quit smoking using vaping ignored in this debate?
Why is the government shutting down safer nicotine alternatives while allowing deadly cigarettes to remain on every street corner?
Instead, we got pre-approved, leading questions about how ‘young people are quitting’ and how the government is bravely ‘stamping out’ vaping. Predictably, officials parroted their usual lines about the supposed dangers of nicotine, the necessity of early intervention, and the alleged success of their crackdown.
Access Journalism: The Cost of Asking Real Questions
Why don’t journalists push back? Simple: they don’t want to lose access. Those who dare to challenge government narratives find themselves shut out of future press events, denied interviews, and labelled as troublemakers.
Mainstream journalists aren’t rewarded for uncovering the truth; they’re rewarded for staying within the boundaries of what’s ‘acceptable’ to ask. Those who toe the line are granted privileged access, advance briefings, and an easier ride in their careers. Those who don’t? Well, they can shout into the void.
Censorship Through Consensus
Another insidious force at play is the unspoken rule of groupthink. Journalists work in an environment where certain assumptions are simply not questioned. The idea that vaping is a public health crisis, that it must be eradicated, and that Big Tobacco is the only entity pushing nicotine products—these are taken as fact, even when real-world evidence contradicts them.
Journalists aren’t necessarily being coerced into compliance; many are simply following the herd. If you step outside the accepted narrative, you risk ridicule, professional isolation, or being labelled as a ‘shill’ for the vaping industry. The result? Self-censorship is just as effective as government control.
Manufacturing Consent, One Press Conference at a Time
The real scandal isn’t just that the government is misleading the public on vaping—it’s that the media is complicit in it. When journalists fail to ask tough questions, they cease to be watchdogs of power and become their lapdogs.
What we saw in that press conference was not journalism. It was an orchestrated PR exercise, designed to give the illusion of scrutiny while ensuring the government’s narrative goes unchallenged. The questions weren’t probing; they were prompts. The answers weren’t informative; they were scripted soundbites.
And the worst part? The public, trusting the media to hold power to account, will never know what wasn’t asked.
Break the Cycle
If you care about truth in public health, don’t expect it to come from press conferences like these. The government will continue to push its anti-vaping agenda, and the media will continue to play along unless the public demands real answers.