Great investigative piece on NBC11 on undisclosed historical and financial links between big tobacco and groups opposing Prop29

Check it out here.

This is my favorite part of their story:

'If you have any doubt that these type of relationships are part of a larger, deliberate public strategy, look no further than a 1998 proposal from a Sacramento political consulting group to The Tobacco Institute during the debate over another cigarette tax referendum.

"Dated February 13, 1998, on page 1, the proposal states, 'The tobacco industry is currently losing the public relations war with the general public.' It continues, 'Understanding the above, the only way to defeat any of the hostile tax increase measures currently in circulation for the November ballot in California, is to build a coalition of groups more favorable to the public without the fingerprints of tobacco on it.'”  Click here to read the proposal.

This story also shows how journalists can use the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library to inform current issues.