It's Not All Grim

At first, I had thought that AIDS was a problem that the majority of people chose to ignore, and to a certain extent I am right. However, in looking for stories I have found that there are many people that are striving to help those in need. I wrote on Greater Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church, a congregation that has worked against AIDS almost since the disease first broke out. In the process of my research I discovered that these people have been covered all of about four times for their efforts. They’ve only been covered four times in almost 18 years of serving an area that has been devastated by the disease, Overtown. It was a sad realization that the media doesn’t cover the story of AIDS unless it is reporting on numbers of deaths. It is a story in and of itself.

That brings up another question. Why hasn’t anyone wondered why the numbers from the Center for Disease Control, the governmental agency that is supposed to be on top of things of this nature, are from 2005. It is unreasonable for us to expect numbers from the end of 2007 but at the very least update the numbers to match the 2006 figures. The CDC had been collecting data almost every year up until 2005. What happened? The spread of AIDS has remained constant; the problem hasn’t gone away, so why hasn’t the CDC published a new set of data?

I still believe that the media has turned a blind eye to the AIDS epidemic, granted that this isn’t something that you would report on every day. The stories about the disease have nothing to do with the people it is affecting; they are reduced to mere numbers - faceless, statistical facts. Putting a real face on the problem is the media’s job, even if it is a story of hopelessness in the face of this disease. This is the only way people will no longer be able to consciously remain ignorant about what is going on.

Bullit Marquezz/AP

Having been in this multimedia course for over six weeks now, I’ve realized that the internet is where these stories can be told. Yes, news media on the internet still have to worry about page hits and the like, but it removes the restriction of timely news overshadowing the lingering problem. Even now, I, as a student, can blog about the AIDS epidemic and add my small piece to inform whichever reader wanders onto this blog. Now, imagine how much more effective someone who has the resources to give an in-depth report on the epidemic can be. I’m armed with a pen and a notebook, and I found out something new and rarely covered. My classmates have also worked towards their own stories. So why is it that those who work in the media field and have access to sources and research material not readily available to us have not pursued the story on AIDS. With the advent of blogs and other internet media, the excuse that it doesn’t fit into what’s going into print or on air is no longer acceptable.

A page on the internet can do so much more for any story than lines on newsprint. There is so much room to add pictures, videos, and interactive maps and the like that the story may start off as just a news story and it could develop into a project that truly informs and attracts people. If we explore the capabilities available to us, we may just yet ignite a fire in people to learn more about AIDS, and actually begin to worry about it.