Over a period of five consecutive days (Tuesday 17 th July to Saturday 21 st July) I looked through the mainstream daily The Star for articles about HIV and AIDS. There is a large pile of newspapers lying on the floor next to me – these are sections of The Star that contained no mention at all of HIV/AIDS. And on my desk there is less than a page of handwritten notes that record the few mentions of HIV/AIDS that I came across.

In total four articles appeared in the paper over the course of five days that even mentioned HIV and AIDS. Of those four articles none actively engage with the epidemic in any depth. While journalists may mention HIV and AIDS, the epidemic is always secondary to the story.

In the Tonight section on Tuesday 17 th July there is an article by Diane de Beer that focuses on an actor who plays an HIV positive character in the play Rent , currently being staged in Johannesburg (page 7). The article also mentions the fact that one of the other characters in the show is also HIV positive but does not explore what the significance of this might be for audiences in South Africa in the time of AIDS.

On Wednesday 18 th July in the main section of The Star there is an article about the group of Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for allegedly intentionally infecting babies with HIV. The headline was: “Ruling in Libyan HIV case lifts medics’ hopes” (page 4). Their death sentence has been commuted.

On the same day on the same page is a story about the biggest condom ever made, “Condom maker reaches for the skies”. The “condom” hot-air balloon was made for a Dutch festival to increase awareness of safe sex. The article mentions the AIDS crisis in Holland in the 1980s and refers to the increase in sexually transmitted diseases in the Netherlands in the present.

On Thursday 19 th July in the main section of the paper there is a story that is not credited to any specific writer but instead is “brought to you by LoveLife”. The headline is: “I am building for myself the life I never had” and is the life-story of a young man whose HIV status is not disclosed. While he mentions that both his sister and his brother have died, he does not say whether or not they died of AIDS related diseases. Had this article engaged with HIV and AIDS it could have contributed to HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention in South Africa . Instead HIV and AIDS are implied rather than overtly stated. This only contributes to the silence that continues to surround HIV and AIDS in South Africa .

There was no meaningful mention of HIV/AIDS in this sample of The Star newspapers and there was certainly no analysis of what is the most pressing social issue we face in this country now.

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