AIDS Overlooked In Media

The vice presidential debate offered a missed opportunity for the press to seize this topic before the election.

by Dawn Withers

AIDS is a subject riddled with taboos and misconceptions. Nearly two decades have passed since the emergence of the AIDS epidemic and, while it doesnít receive the same attention it used to, AIDS is still a major health and social problem. When it comes to covering this issue in the nationís newspapers, the disease receives mixed coverage.

Bob Roehr, a freelance journalist and biomedical writer who specializes in HIV and infectious disease, wrote, in a piece for News Watch earlier this year, about the problems the media still have when covering AIDS.

Roehr wrote that the task of covering HIV becomes difficult because there is ìan ëick factor,í a reticence to discuss associated issues, let alone read about them over breakfast in a family newspaper.

ìThese maladies appear to disproportionately affect the economically disadvantaged, which often means people of color, contributing a further overlay of cultural and sometimes linguistic complexities that can challenge even the best journalistís capacity to understand and explain. So it should be no surprise that mistakes do occur.î

The vice presidential debate on a Oct. 5 was one recent event where AIDS was mentioned. Gwen Ifill, of PBSís Washington Week, broached the subject as moderator of the event. Neither Vice President Dick Cheney nor Sen. John Edwards could answer Ifillís question: What do you propose to do about the fact that black women are 13 times more likely to die of AIDS than their white counterparts? The subsequent newspaper stories covering the debate often overlooked Cheneyís and Edwardís fumble.

ìI asked that question because I have noticed over time how little our elected officials have to say about domestic AIDS,î said Ifill in an e-mail to News Watch. ìYet they talk at length about what they would/should/could do to contribute to the global AIDS fund.î

She added, ìI have to say that I was surprised that neither the Vice President nor the Senator had an answer to this. As a black women, I also found it depressing.î

With Cheney admitting he wasnít aware of the AIDS epidemic and Edwards deflecting the question by talking about AIDS in other countries (despite Ifillís specific instructions not to mention AIDS abroad), both candidates made it very clear AIDS and African Americans were neither a topic nor constituency that would decide the presidential election.

ìIt was a short leap to ask Presidential candidates about what they would do on the national stage,î said Ifill. ìIt has become clear to me that many Americans are unaware that AIDS is still a growing concern here at home.î

Mainstream newspapers did cover this lapse in the debate, but coverage was largely relegated to the editorial pages of newspapers. These editorials were generally not written by the paperís editorial boards but by AIDS advocates and members of AIDS interest groups.

ìThe issue priorities of the press since 9/11 have shifted to issues of security and foreign affairs which is a huge reversal from 80s and early 90s with the emphasis on domestic issues,î said Andrew Rojecki, associate professor in the department of communications at University of Illinois at Chicago.

While major papers all covered the debate, their coverage often overlooked the AIDS question, focusing instead on topics like Halliburton, taxes, Iraq and the candidates attacking each otherís political records and professional pasts.

ìThe candidates set the agenda and the news media followed it,î said John McManus, project director of GradetheNews.org at Stanford. ìThis issue may illustrate the failure of the press to follow a public interest agenda and follow whatever the candidates were offering. This gives too much power to the politicians and not enough to the public.î

Papers like the San Francisco Chronicle published editorials mentioning Cheneyís mistake in naming the Web site Factcheck.org, but no mention of his inability to answer Ifillís question. Edwards boyish looks and courtroom theatrics garnered more comments than his lapse in answering the AIDS question.

The candidatesí physical differences and styles of communication were discussed regularly in news stories. In a The New York Times' front-page story by David E. Rosenbaum, it listed the topics discussed during the debate but failed to mention AIDS in any context.

USA Today, the paper with the largest national circulation, ran an editorial by Bonnie Marshall, founder and CEO of the Global Initiative on AIDS. Marshall wrote, ìIfill articulated in a few moments of what many us have been screaming for the past four years. More than 40 million American heard her question.î The newspaper didnít run a news story mentioning AIDS and the debate.

ìA news organization canít save itself by saying it raised the [AIDS] issue on the editorial page,î said McManus. ìThat page is reserved for pundits and not reporters. [Newspapers] need to cover that in both.î

The Boston Globe ran an editorial called ìThe Understudies Onstageî where the editors wrote, ìCheney said at one point that he was unaware of the rate of AIDS infection among African-American women in the United States, but for the most part he continued the pattern he and Bush have set of never admitting error.î

The Globe was an exception with its editorial written, or least commissioned, by the newspaper. All other newspapers that ran editorials were from people affiliated with AIDS organizations.

ìThe good news is that, in the feedback I have gotten since the debate, folks got that,î said Ifill. ìThese debates have been very useful for smart and involved likely voters. They have gotten to see what these folks do, and donít, care about.î

The newspapers examined for this report were found searching Lexis/Nexis, Ethnic News Watch, Ebsco Host and Google over a two-week period starting Oct. 8 to Oct. 25. Search terms used included, ìVice Presidential*,î ìAIDS,î ìIfill,î and ìDebate.î This research is based on page-one stories filed on Oct. 6 from 14 major dailies across the country. The stories mentioning AIDS come from 12 newspapers and wire service stories. Research summaries can be found here.