HIV/AIDS in News – Journalists as Catalysts - United Nations ...

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HIV/AIDS in News – Journalists as Catalysts
The Jansatta Express only reported the event from the point of view of the VHP press
conference that contradicted the Global Fund report. It also had a colour photograph
of VHP supremo Ashok Singhal.
Aaj carried three articles on the same day, one on the government mentioning that
infection rates have come down and two others that discussed the VHP’s
contentions.
Nineteen articles in UP
discussed care as being
a fundamental right of
HIV positive people,
many of them debunked
wrong notions leading to
stigma and discrimination
faced by positive
people
The English dailies covered the same news in the following manner:
The Pioneer had a total of three news items on the topic. A long news story on May
26 was followed with an editorial on May 27 and also a separate photograph. The
editorial welcomed the news of reduced infections but suggested caution.
The Indian Express had a four-column story on the government announcement on
the front page which carried over to an equally long concluding section on page two.
The Hindustan Times provided an editorial on the HIV/AIDS numbers.
While adequate space was provided to the news in both cases, the English newspapers
carried additional editorial comments that gave a balanced view. Significantly, the
English press did not make any reference to the claims by the VHP which raised a religion-based
controversy on the rate of spread of the virus. This was quite unlike the
Hindi papers, where all but one gave prominent coverage to the issue.
Regarding the Urdu press, there were three articles on HIV/AIDS in the one month of
intensive media survey. The stories dealt with the state health ministers’ statements
and a workshop on the growing number of people in India and UP who are affected,
including preventive measures. The articles were largely balanced and neutral
in tone.
Media treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS and
stigma and discrimination
If the issue of stigma has been raised directly in any of the stories, it has been done
so with concern in most cases. For instance, 19 articles discussed care as being a
fundamental right of HIV positive people, many of them debunked wrong notions leading
to stigma and discrimination faced by positive people and provided inspiring life
histories. Some of these stories are briefly described:
English
English
English
Story on how infected people are getting married after putting out matrimonial
advertisements and declaring their status.
Very short item on how survival rates after contracting the virus have
increased globally.
Article describing the isolation and discrimination faced by a young infected