I know I'm not alone, and I know this is probably just a statement of our common sentiment, but I just can't stand reading about regulations and the commonly spewed misinformation about e-cigs. I get so angry, and depressed having read one of those stupid articles, or after reading about impending regulations being proposed by our various government entities. People are just so, well, ignorant. Or greedy. Or just plain stupid. I can't believe that the thing that may very well have saved my life, and thousands of other lives, is threatened by the disingenuous intentions of people in power. I just had to say this out loud, and I wish that I didn't have to hear about this crap on a daily basis. Instead, I wish that I could read sensible reports in mass media of people changing their lives by using our invaluable smoking alternative. Reading this forum and the e-cig subreddit dissuades the ennui to an extent, but for heaven's sake people (those on the outside, non vapers) wake up!
I probably read several hundred of these articles every week for my daily summaries. Things aren't quite as bad as they may look ...
1) Small media outlets tend to churn out "cookie cutter" articles which follow standard patterns. They're rarely worth reading, because the writer usually only has a minute of googling time to combine with ten minutes of writing time (and then it's on to the next story). And although there are still Jane Brody types left at some of the major media publications, you'll see a lot less garbage in places like WSJ or NYT (For Brody:
Jane Brody turns up the NYT’s lies about THR, e-cigarettes, etc. | Anti-THR Lies and related topics ). But
even in the stories by small outlets, usually their ed. demands some local content. Sometimes this is supplied by a "helpful" local ANTZ, but just as often, the reporter will (also) talk to a vaper or a vape store owner. What the reader sees is a sharp contrast between the authorities who tell the publc to
"be terrified, run for the hills now with the children!" and vapers who say what we already know. In the end, this sort of coverage creates at least a few new vapers for every 100 readers. And of those 100 readers, at least a few who neither smoke nor vape will wonder why the authorities are so frightened by a product that helps people quit smoking.
2) Vapers are also doing a very good job (as noted below by SBC83) of hitting back in the comments sections - which tend to run at least 10-1 in favor of vaping. At last a few disinterested observers note this. Some editors and even the original story's writer may see it.
3) The well-publicized hate pieces and legislative campaigns seem to be backfiring on the ANTZ - to the extent that they provide more publicity for vaping. More people try vaping. And then - all of a sudden - more nonsmoker/nonvapers get to know vapers (in person), and discover that some e-juices' vapors actually have a pleasant odor, and/or may learn a few facts about vaping (other than the factoids in the hit job pieces). This has more of an impact than you might think - one vaper who quits or substantially reduces analogs can change many of their nonsmoking/nonvaping friends', neighbors', and family members' minds.
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This is a difficult process, but the hard work already done by vapers (via orgs like CASAA) has yielded 3 million vapers in the US and another 1.6M in the UK. If the number doubles again this year (as predicted), many more minds will change.
As vapers become more numerous than tobacco users, other challenges will emerge. But you won't see the same type of media coverage as you do today.
