| |
Contributions from
the Column
InWEnt News
ch@t between worlds – online to the Amazon
Negotiations
Can statistics take the measure of human rights?
HIV/AIDS: a burning issue for African journalists
Information and training on AIDS control at the workplace
02/2003
|
|
InWEnt training course in Namibia
HIV/AIDS: a burning issue for African journalists
15 journalists from major daily and weekly newspapers in Southern Africa travelled to Windhuk in Namibia to study the risks and impact of the AIDS epidemic. From 11 to 22 November, participants from Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe attended a training course on "HIV/AIDS reporting in the Southern African press".
The aim of the event, staged by the InWEnt Health Care unit and the International Institute for Journalism (IIJ), was to promote AIDS reporting in the countries concerned. The journalists heard how factually accurate reporting can be pitched at a level suited to the information needs of readers. Achieving this will help spread public awareness of the HIV/AIDS problem and its social and economic implications and encourage people to make critical behavioural changes.
The journalists were particularly impressed by the personal encounters with people living with HIV/AIDS. The purpose of this confrontation was not just to open an emotional door to the issue; it was also intended to prompt the journalists to think about the risk AIDS presents to their own lives. In lectures and discussions, the course members' knowledge of the subject was deepened through coverage of the general characteristics of the epidemic, forms of transmission and methods of prevention, special risk groups, social and economic impact, international control strategies and "best practice" examples. Parallel to this, participants also had a chance to hone their journalistic skills (interview techniques, drafting of news articles and features). Aside from guided Internet research, this took the form of physically tracking down information by visiting institutions in and around Windhuk – e.g. NGOs active in HIV prevention or patient care – as well as companies offering prevention programmes for their employees.
Hans-Jürgen Bösel
|
