December 2005
There are many examples from around the world of people and organisations meeting these challenges. This report looks in detail at just a few (such as the Soul City entertainment-education programmes and Takalani Sesame), and focuses on the Republic of South Africa, which is home to the largest number of people living with HIV in the world (as stated in the report of December 2005). The purpose of the report is to describe the processes by which an original idea for using the mass media to address HIV and AIDS is put into practice, and to share the lessons learned with all those who wish to do something similar.
For this report, a UNAIDS consultant visited South Africa to interview a wide range of people working in the field, from project managers, researchers, and media executives, to film-makers, audience groups, and people living with HIV who present their own programmes. The aim was to find out not just what has to be done in practical terms, but to gain some insight into the satisfactions and frustrations of working in the challenging environment of the mass media, and to discover the secrets of survival and success. The organisations have very different histories, intended audiences, and ways of working, and ranges of experience.
For example, it looks at:
- how intended audiences are chosen;
- how partnerships are formed and decisions made;
- how topics are chosen and messages developed;
- the research process that underpins the production of materials; and
- what ethical issues are raised by addressing HIV and AIDS in the media, and how they are handled.
The mass media have unrivalled potential to inform and educate the general public. Yet in the response to AIDS only a tiny fraction of that potential has been tapped.
One of the goals set by the international community at the turn of the millennium was to halt the spread of HIV and begin to reverse the epidemic by 2015. A knowledgeable general public is critical to achieving this goal, and in recent years UNAIDS has been urging mass media organisations to put their considerable energy into the effort.
However, using the mass media effectively in the response to AIDS presents major challenges. Sensitive health information and often difficult science have to compete for broadcast time and audiences with a myriad of other topics and interest groups, both commercial and non-commercial. And people from the very different worlds of the creative arts and science have to find a common vision and work together as equal partners.
There are many examples from around the world of people and organisations meeting these challenges. This report looks in detail at just a few (such as the Soul City edutainment programmes and Takalani Sesame) , and focuses on the Republic of South Africa, which is home to the largest number of people living with HIV in the world. The purpose of the report is to describe the processes by which an original idea for using the mass media to address HIV and AIDS is put into practice, and to share the lessons of experience with all those who wish to do something similar.
For example, it looks at:
- how target audiences are chosen;
- how partnerships are formed and decisions made;
- how topics are chosen and messages developed;
- the research process that underpins the production of materials; and
- what ethical issues are raised by addressing HIV and AIDS in the media, and how they are handled.
For this report, a UNAIDS consultant visited South Africa to interview a wide range of people working on the frontline, from project managers, researchers and media executives, to film-makers, audience groups, and people living with HIV who present their own
programmes. The aim was to find out not just what has to be done in practical terms, but to gain some insight into the thrills and frustrations of working in the tough environment of the mass media, and to discover the secrets of survival and success. The organisations have very different histories, target audiences and ways of working, and represent a wide range of experience.
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English