Scan shows how HIV attacks brain, Business Times

1. Demonstrate how interviewing people most affected by the issue under discussion can benefit make coverage better.

2. Raise discussions about the neurological impact of HIV/ AIDS.

 

Trainer’s Notes:  The article deals with a new scientific discovery about the potential benefits of certain medication to protect the brain.  The article relies only on scientific and medical sources. The article also lacks a human face and would have benefited from including the perspective of a person living with HIV/AIDS.  The statistics that were provided were not disaggregated by gender.

 

1. Is there a gender dimension to this story? What are the gender issues?

2. Is there anything missing from this story ? What is the importance of interviewing diverse sources ?

 

Training exercises:

1. Trainees could be asked to interview a person living with HIV/AIDS. Interviews could also be conducted with health care workers to understand the implications of neurological deficits on patients and on those who care for them.

2. Create a guide for journalists covering research, be sure to include the need for interviewing people most affected by the research, as well as the need for gender disaggregated data.

 

Links to Training Resources:  Gender and HIV/AIDS: A Training Manual for Southern African Media and Communicators, Gender Links and the AIDS Law Project, Chapter 11  www.genderlinks.org.za/docs/training/hiv-training-manual/hiv-ch11.pdf 

 

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