Media Discussion: Coverage of HIV/AIDS

This project primarily drew on face-to-face interpersonal exchanges to build the capacity, and spark the interest, of media representatives to share accurate information about HIV/AIDS. To begin, Internews conducted a 5-day training session for print and radio journalists in the Mekong Delta in November 2004; the goal was to strengthen their reporting on HIV prevention, care and treatment issues with a focus on reducing stigma and discrimination. International and local trainers, as well as a representative of the Thai Positive People's Network, conducted the sessions, which culminated in field trips to vaccine trial sites, non-government organisation (NGO) programmes for migrant fishermen, and an orphanage. During the training, the participating journalists produced 14 feature stories in various media and planned their December 2004 World AIDS Day coverage.

Following the training, participating media gathered for an evening exchange that highlighted the actual experiences of those afflicted or affected by HIV/AIDS. Representatives of the Positive Women of Hope Club related accounts of personal and work-related discrimination, stressing the importance of sharing information about the virus as a strategy for diminishing such stigma. A media professional with BBC World Trust who is living with HIV urged the Khmer media to be more sensitive when reporting on HIV/AIDS. In short, the speakers sent a strong message for journalists to follow up on the human side of the story and to stop describing the virus as a "death sentence."

Artistic expression was a key means of raising awareness and instilling a sense of sensitivity and empathy. Participants viewed an exhibition of photographs, as well as a theatrical production, both of which were intended to illustrate how the media can have a direct impact on the life of people living with HIV/AIDS. In the play, which was written by a Cambodian journalist and media trainer, two roadside barbers who are best friends find their lives torn apart when one is exposed in the morning newspaper as having AIDS. A compassionate medical worker explains the issues more accurately, and they have hope for the future.

HIV/AIDS.

This activity is part of a larger Mekong project that Internews is implementing in an effort to harness the power of the mass media in the region to help create a more supportive social environment for people living with HIV/AIDS. At the 15th International AIDS Conference in July 2004, Internews launched regional training activities that will involve more than 100 media journalists/NGOs from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma.