In recognition of the critical role that has evolved for the mass media in the field of HIV/AIDS, the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) organized five sensitivity training workshops for journalists and mass media executives in the English- and Dutch-speaking countries of the Caribbean. Held from 1989-1996, the workshops were attended by 120 media representatives from 21 countries. They constitute a significant pool of professionals who are regarded by CAREC as valued partners in improving the health conditions of people in the Caribbean.

Collaborating with CAREC in organizing the training initiatives were the Caribbean Institute of Mass Communication of the University of the West Indies, the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), Caribbean News Agency, Caribbean Association of Media Workers and the PANOS Institute of Washington, D.C., USA. These partnerships helped:

* ensure a consistently high quality and greater quantity of reports by the print and electronic media in the Caribbean
* promote training of regional journalists
* update media decision-makers on public health issues related to the AIDS epidemic
* facilitate greater access to populations in CAREC's member countries
* upgrade working relationships between public health workers and media decision-makers.

Interactive workshops

The workshops are one aspect of an ongoing strategy to encourage responsible reporting on HIV/AIDS/STDs. One workshop session, entitled "Attitudes and Feelings", was interactive and took the participants along a continuum of experiences and reactions. The journalists were told to put aside their tools of trade and to confront the many issues linked to the disease from their personal perspectives as sexually active adults. They were also asked how they perceived their personal risks of becoming HIV-infected and how they would regard an HIV-positive relative or friend as opposed to someone with whom they were not acquainted.

The journalists were surprisingly frank and candid about some aspects of their lives usually regarded as personal and private. They said that the interactive session in particular and the workshops in general helped them internalize the issues and understand with greater clarity the extent of risk that sexually active people face. They also left the workshops with a deeper appreciation of the multifaceted concerns of people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs).

Journalists and the law

All the workshops focus on the question of how to treat legal, ethical and human rights issues. Some journalists, who have not been exposed to sensitivity training, tend to sensationalize reports, breaching constitutional and human rights of individuals infected and affected by the disease. Apart from presentations by leading Caribbean legal experts, the judgement in the region's only AIDS-related libel case is used as a guideline for journalists writing or presenting radio and television programmes on legal and ethical issues.

* There is a legal precedent in English jurisprudence that there is a difference between the public and private life of an individual, irrespective of social standing or public profile.
* A person's private life should be free from intrusion and public attention regardless of the thin line separating them.
* The media should avoid speculating whether or not one is HIV-positive or has AIDS, and whether or not there are intimate or sexual relationships between persons. Individual rights to privacy should not be breached.
* Winning a libel suit or having an apology published to correct inaccuracies does not necessarily remove the social scars and stigma inflicted on a plaintiff's character and life or the damage that may have been done to the person's professional career.
* The media should become acquainted with the legal precedents and laws protecting the private life of individuals irrespective of their health, social or professional status.

Reporting strategies

In CAREC's workshops, journalists are discouraged from using statistics to dramatize HIV/AIDS situations on the ground that they could sometimes distort the social, economic and general health conditions of people and their countries. CAREC provides journalists with HIV/AIDS information on a regular basis. In 1995 an entire issue of AIDS WINDOW, a CAREC publication, was devoted to the work of Caribbean journalists in prevention and control of the disease. In this publication, a range of topics was identified to assist media and health professionals keep within their focus some of the many issues that take priority in national AIDS programmes (NAPs).

In an effort to encourage and maintain responsible reporting on HIV/AIDS issues, competitions for media awards are held at regional and national levels. In 1988, CAREC sponsored an HIV/AIDS category in a national media awards contest in Trinidad and Tobago. Since then CAREC has collaborated with NAPs in its member countries, the Pan American Health Organization and the CBU in holding annual competitions.

"A significant impact"

Owing to the wide geographic spread of CAREC's 21 member countries, no regional surveys have been done regarding the workshops' impact. However, two small studies were conducted. The first compared reports in two newspapers prior to and after the workshops in 1989 and 1991. The results showed less concentration on statistics and sensationalism, which had characterized media coverage in the early years of the epidemic. A distinct shift in reporting style was also apparent. The reports now encouraged removing the social stigma of the disease and reducing acts of discrimination against patients, their relatives and friends.

To assess the impact of the training sessions in 1993 and 1994 on reporting, comparisons were made with 1995 reports. They showed that a consistently high percentage of reports emphasized reducing fear in the general population and promoting the need for compassion and rights for PHAs and their families. Although some journalists still preferred to report on PHAs and affected relatives, mainly because of the human interest value, they nevertheless respected the principles of obtaining the interviewees' prior consent and maintaining strict confidentiality.

In 1995, CAREC's work in the field of media relations and information dissemination was evaluated by one of its international funding agencies. The officials underscored CAREC's training initiative for Caribbean journalists, which they noted "has had a significant impact on the quality of press reporting about the disease in the region". Two more workshops are planned for 1997, one for radio broadcasters and another for senior decision-makers in the Caribbean media.