Media Watch
Sowetan’s dangerous factual faux pas
The Sowetan should seriously consider printing a retraction, after publishing misinformation on HIV treatment.
According to an article in Monday’s (7 May 2012) Sowetan on the sensitive subject of ARV shortages in Limpopo, patients who are struggling to access ARVs can and are “switching from ARVs to AZTs, which are easily available”.
In reality AZT or ZDV (otherwise known as Zidovudine) is actually one ARV that is used in some treatment regimens. AZT cannot be used to treat HIV on it’s own but is used in combination with other ARVs to control HIV infection.
Teen sex laws challenged in court
Legislation that could see teenagers charged for having consensual sex is being challenged in the North Gauteng High Court. Sexually active South African teenagers find themselves in a vulnerable position: 49 599 pupils fell pregnant in 2008
The snip makes the cut
A fair quantity of HIV news coverage this week was dedicated to male circumcision.
“The snip” appears to have been in the headlines for two reasons—First, the cut-off time to register cultural circumcision schools with the Limpopo authorities lapsed this week; and second, health minister Aaron Motsoaledi in his budget speech earlier this week announced that his department had performed over 320 000 circumcisions since February 2010.
At first glance this sounds very much like news we’ve heard before. But whilst some of the flaws that often characterise coverage of circumcision remains evident in the articles, a degree of sophistication underlines this week’s reports.
Fund to fight disease open for business again
The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria estimates that more than $1.6 billion (R12.7 bn) in additional funding will be available in the next two years.
Editorial: Engaging your audience
Our journAIDS blogs often take issue with the fact that a great deal of HIV journalism is not as sophisticated as it could be. A great many articles merely provide a run-down of who said what, leaving out critical context and failing to corroborate information, add facts or localise cases.
That said, there is a clear limitation to the degree of complexity that can reasonably be added to an article. Leave out critical context and you disempower your reader. But add too much information (particularly multiple statistics and unintelligible jargon) and your intellectualisation has left your readers alienated.
