‘Media should be trained, sensitised in HIV reporting’

NEW DELHI - A story in the media can act as a powerful communicator of an important message, while a misrepresentation can cause irreversible damage. For reporting on the sensitive and important issue of HIV, the media should be trained and sensitised, experts said at conference here Thursday.

The conference which saw the participation of the Press Council of India (PCI), NGOs and people suffering from HIV/AIDS, was organised by the NGO Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR).

“Sexual minorities are facing a lot of problems today. We need to recognise these problems and find ways to solve them. For this, the media must be trained on how to help. Also, wrong depiction by the media causes a lot of damage, so it has to be sensitised,” said PCI chairman Justice (retd) J.N. Ray.

The PCI had formulated guidelines in 1993 on HIV reporting and updated them in 2008. Among the guidelines were no usage of the term “scourge”, no hidden camera to show people living with HIV, no images of the sick and dying, and no graphics of skulls and crossbones while reporting on HIV and AIDS.

Jotin, a former drug user, from Manipur said: “I was tonsured for being a drug user and the next day my photograph appeared in the local newspaper with details of my family, locality I lived in and my caste.

“I felt so terrible that I did not want to go back to my locality or family. Even the reputation of my father who is a simple, social worker was ruined by the report,” he added.

Sudha, who works with the AIDS Initiative Programme in Tamil Nadu gave another example of misreporting by the media.

“Last year there was an incident in Chennai in which a young boy was abducted and trafficked to Mumbai. The report on this incident alleged that transgenders were trafficking young children. When the parents complained the police arrested a transgender,” Sudha said.

“Hearing the news a group of us rushed to the police station. The news reports the next morning said that a group of transgenders had attacked the police station. Similarly, when a DGP (director general of police) who was appointed to investigate the matter visited the community the media reported that we had kidnapped him- criminalising the community instantly,” she added.

Melody Lalmuanmpuii, who works in an NGO in Manipur added: “Self-stigma in this group is very strong and negative stories in the media can have severe implications that can crush them and push them underground”.

The conference was also attended officials of UNAIDS and various NGOs working on the issue of HIV/AIDS.