Media Watch
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Striking a balance: Normalisation vs trivialisation of HIV
Given the advances in treatment and the proliferation of stories on ‘positive role models,’ the media should be aware of the delicate balance between addressing stigma that people living with HIV often experience and trivialising HIV as a condition.
Another ‘living positively’ story was born last week when former Isidingo actress, Lesego Motsepe, chose World AIDS Day to make public that she has been living with HIV for over a decade.
In a context where HIV is now a manageable albeit chronic condition, personal good news stories around positive heroes often feature in the media.
And while these vignettes do have the potential to address stigma through normalising HIV (especially when they are backed by serious star-power, as is the case with Koyo Bala, Criselda Kananda and of course Motsepe herself), the media should ensure that that these personal stories are covered in such a way that they do not give people the impression that living with HIV is easy.
Beating the World AIDS day DRUM
DRUM magazine has published an impressive spread to mark World AIDS Day, featuring the stories of various South Africans living with and affected by HIV.
These stories might seem like the run-of-the-mill, warm-and-fuzzy-feeling-inducing, good news HIV stories we have come to expect from South African mags, but when taken together it is clear that DRUM’s HIV-featurettes have the power not only to normalise HIV and banish stigma but also have the potential to break the stereotypes around who gets HIV and why.
By highlighting the stories of a diverse array of people, from a white 62-year-old man living with HIV to a young, hip, black homosexual celeb who has recently come to terms with his HIV-positive status, DRUM conveys to its readers that HIV does not discriminate but affects people of all ages, races, sexual orientations and genders.
HIV’s legacy as a condition linked to particular groups and associated with immorality, began as early as the very first AIDS-related deaths and has continued into the present, evidenced by beliefs that HIV is a ‘black disease’.Staying ‘True’ to HIV coverage
An article in this month’s edition of True Love magazine shows that the media is changing with the times, welcoming and promoting positive images and stories of people living with HIV.
If True Love’s feature article and accompanying photo spread on Criselda Kananda are anything to go by, then gone are the days when HIV-related articles were illustrated with harrowing images of severely wasted people and children talked about AIDS in tragic tones.
Sisters doing it for themselves
It is no secret that poorly staffed and under-staffed clinics are hurting prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV efforts in South Africa. One only has to look as far as last week which saw the release of a damning Human Rights Watch (HRW) report which revealed that HIV-positive mothers-to-be were often subject to appalling treatment in state hospitals.Soaps and tabloids make top team!
The ‘people’s paper’ and local soap operas are making good on their potential to be a formidable HIV awareness team.Page 1 of 1 pages
