Accounts from the Field: A Public Relations Perspective on Global AIDS/HIV

Abstract

This study is a theoretical as well as empirical exploration of the power and cultural differentials that mark and construct various intersecting discourses, specifically media discourse, on global AIDS/HIV. It applies the language and concepts of public relations to understand how the press coverage of the pandemic is associated with the variables that impact the newsmaking process as well as the public and policy implications of macro news frames generated over time. Theoretical work in the areas of agenda setting and news framing also instruct the conceptual framework of this analysis. Narrative analysis is used as a methodology to qualitatively analyze three pools of accounts-from people either living with AIDS/HIV, involved in AIDS/HIV work, or discursively engaged in the media construction of the pandemic; from transnational wire service journalists who cover the issue at global and regional levels; and policy shapers and communicators who are active at the global level. These three communities of respondents represent important stakeholders in the AIDS/HIV issue. The findings are analyzed from a public relations standpoint. Perhaps the most important finding of this study is that the public relations approaches used to address AIDS/HIV related issues need to be grounded in context-specific research and communicative practices that bring out the lived realities of AIDS/HIV at grassroots levels. The findings also posit that those situated at critical junctions between various stakeholders need to cultivate a finely balanced understanding of the etic and emic intersections and subjectivities of global/local AIDS/HIV.

Postcolonial Constructions of HIV/AIDS: Meaning, Culture, and Structure

“…Similarly, the local frames of HIV/AIDS are context specific and are intrinsically linked to the global frames around the disease, co-constructively shaping specific media relations strategies, fundraising, grass-roots campaigning, etc. at the local level (Bardhan, 2002).…”

“…Using news clips from the New York Times and Newsday and a radio clip from National Public Radio, Karnik exposes the common thread among them: that of "exotic theories of epidemiology" (p. 335). Noting the role that mass media play in constructing global and local frames of disease, as seen in the work of Bardhan (2002) and Airhihenbuwa and Obregon (2000), this essay uses the specific case of news coverage of HIV/AIDS in India by U.S. news media.…”

A Newspaper Content Analysis of HIV/AIDS and Food Insecurity in Sub‐Saharan Africa

“…This biomedical framing suggested an immediate solution would be the provision of nutritional supplementation to improve medical outcomes. Bardhan (2002) explained this notion as citizens in the West seeking an instant cure or 'magic bullet' for health problems, including HIV. This expectation may also stem from the experience of readers in the global North, where treatment for HIV is more readily available, leaving many to view HIV as another chronic disease.…”

“…Unfortunately, in the global North, the media agenda appears to be focused on furthering scientific research and medical advancements; although these are certainly needed, they do not address root causes of the pandemic. The tendency of Western media to repeat 'dogma' from major agencies (Bardhan 2002) or leading researchers (Schwartz, Woloshin and Beczek 2002) also leads to an increasingly biomedical frame for reporting on the issue. This framing tends to emphasize HIV as a biomedical issue rather than a societal and cultural issue and thus significantly affects proposed solutions.…”

“…The relevance of the mass media within the HIV pandemic cannot be understated. For the first two decades of the pandemic, policies regarding HIV directly reflected international media discourse and agendas (Bardhan 2002). Still, media coverage has been criticized for its emphasis on individual responsibility and negative portrayal of people living with HIV (Hodgetts 2006).…”