This week, Journ-AIDS publishes “Reporting on children in the context of HIV/AIDS”, a new resource designed to help journalists report accurately and sensitively on children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

The resource is free and is available in electronic (pdf), web-based and printed format. It was compiled by four premier South African research agencies in this field – the Children’s Institute, the Centre for Social Science Research, the Media Monitoring Project, and the HIV/AIDS and the Media Project  –  drawing on recent research conducted locally. The compilation and publication of the resource was funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation.

This new resource aims to provide a concise overview of the major issues affecting children in South Africa, to supply useful reference and statistical information to journalists, to give reporting tips on how to tell stories that will grip readers and are at the same time of the highest ethical standards, and to outline some of the pitfalls of reporting in this area and how to avoid them.

The resource

• Presents recent research and thinking around the ways in which children are affected by HIV/AIDS, including being orphaned. (Part 1)

• Outlines some of the key issues in responding to children affected by HIV/AIDS, including clinical interventions (such as prevention of mother-to-child transmission and antiretroviral treatment), and social support for affected communities. (Part 2)

• Presents some of the misleading messages that the media can sometimes perpetuate in their coverage. It challenges journalists to contextualise stories and not to compromise children’s well-being through stereotyping. (Part 3)

• Provides journalists with five guiding principles for reporting on children and HIV/AIDS, including issues of confidentiality and children’s rights to participate in matters that concern them. (Part 4)

• align=right/>Provides a detailed resource list, including organisations that conduct research into children affected by the epidemic, those which can provide up-to-date statistics, and organisations that work directly with children and their families. (Part 5)
• Is carefully sourced and attributed. (Part 6)

The report is viewable on the Journ-AIDS website or download it in Adobe PDF format by clicking here . If you would prefer, please order a free hard copy version of the booklet by emailing your name and address to ridgardn@journalism.wits.ac.za. - Natalie Ridgard

Contact Details

For information and support on reporting on children and HIV/AIDS, contact:

HIV/AIDS and the Media Project
Natalie Ridgard
(011) 717 4086
ridgardn@journalism.wits.ac.za
www.journ-aids.org

Media Monitoring Project
William Bird
(011) 788 1278
williamb@mediamonitoring.org.za
www.mediamonitoring.org.za

For research on children affected by HIV/AIDS and the latest interventions, contact:

Children’s Institute
Helen Meintjes
(021) 689 5404
helenm@rmh.uct.ac.za
www.uct.ac.za/depts/ci

Centre for Social Science Research
Rachel Bray
(021) 650 4658
rbray@commerce.uct.ac.za
http://www.cssr.uct.ac.za

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