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Media rapped over AIDS reporting

    JOHANNESBURG

    HIV infection rates could be reduced if journalists were doing their job well, an expert in the field of AIDS reporting said on Monday.

    According to Dr Elinor Burkett, of the University of Alaska's journalism department, globally, the media were not giving the real issues around the pandemic enough airtime or space.

    Burkett said most reporters had a tendency to be "non-specific" when writing about AIDS, and charged that shying away from words like 'anal intercourse' or 'oral sex' in reports did little to inform the public of risky behaviour.

    The online news service, Health24, quoted Burkett as saying, "AIDS reporting has turned into a massive exercise in political correctness."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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