A trend analysis was conducted to determine the characteristics of news articles, editorials, and advertisements about tobacco that appeared in the magazines "Newsweek,""Time," and "U. S. News and World Report." Nine time periods in three intervals were studied: 1959-1961-1963, 1965-1967-1969, and 1973-1975-1977. An examination of two issues of each newsmagazine per year yielded a total of 34 tobacco news articles, 66 tobacco editorials, and 203 tobacco advertisements. Data indicated that after the 1971 ban on tobacco advertising in broadcasting, the number of tobacco advertisements in newsmagazines increased while the number of tobacco news articles and editorials on health problems decreased. As health organizations and federal health agencies expressed concern about the adverse effects of smoking after the United States Surgeon General's report on smoking was released in 1964, an increasing number of smoking-health news articles and editorials appeared in newsmagazines. Unexpectedly, substantive comments on the smoking-health issue and procedural matters on tobacco business increased simultaneously. But this increased procedural content resulted from the tobacco industry's efforts to counteract negative remarks about smoking. The findings suggest that, if these patterns persist, a critical imbalance in smoking-health messages will occur, creating a "protobacco" perspective. (Author/RL)