World Media and Experts Discuss Strategies for HIV/AIDS

Speakers from the world media organizations talked about media strategies to help combat HIV/AIDS epidemics.

Kuala Lumpur: Recognizing the importance and power of mass media in responding to HIV/AIDS epidemics, hundreds of experts, researchers and policy makers around the globe met with media outlets and practitioners from different nations in Malaysia to more encourage media to help fight the global crisis, saying that “the Era of Participatory Media”

After 25 years since the HIV discovery, 40 million people are infected and in many countries, AIDS has become the leading cause of death. Though the number of people who die of sickness related with AIDS is dramatically decline, fresh infections of HIV is on the growth and HIV/AIDS is no longer simply a health problem, but it is a pandemic becoming a global socio-economic disaster. In such challenges, the one-week conference on May 27-31 in Kuala Lumpur considered media as the mainstay in achieving the target of reducing the crisis.

The gathering was the crucial discussion for media in the Asia-Pacific and every corner of the world at the time of the evolution of new media -- especially TV, radio, iPod, Blog, Pod casting, email, text messages, telephone videos, and so on, to exchange their ideas and initiatives to find out strategies to help eradicate HIV/AIDS; to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the present strategies; and to discuss the strategies against HIV/AIDS in the future.

Reading out his Deputy Prime Minister’s speech at the conference, Malaysian Information Minister Y.B. Datuk Zainuddin Maidin said “Dialogues can help us deal with poverty, illiteracy, HIV and AIDS and ill health….The global media dialogues that you have started here today is a presentation of the dialogue between civilizations, between continents, between countries, between different affiliations and varied identities... Because media is the voice of people that people listen to and sometimes, it is the voice of the people.”

The conference focused on several questions asking that “Has media kept pace with the response of the International agencies and scientists? Can media put an end to discrimination against HIV positive people by encouraging social inclusiveness and replace the fear and the denial of HIV and AIDS? How can we media professionals respond to the challenge of HIV? How best can we contribute to reducing the rate of infection to half its present rate?”.

In responding to the questions, speakers from the global media organizations similarly voiced that “raising better awareness, education, bringing accurate information and message to the public without sensationalism” through their media coverage are the core strategies to combat the problem while some others said “bringing the untold stories, promoting women rights and empowerment with rights of choice, raising awareness of safe sex and reproductive health” are the key massages.

Dak Mpofu, South African Broadcasting Corporation and Chair of the Global Media AIDS Initiative, said solving the crisis is not for only doctors, physicians, GO and NGO workers but media can also successfully involve in the fields. He said media have powerful messages with fact and quality to the public to change their attitudes regarding HIV/AIDS and that the media must never say there is “cure” for HIV/AIDS in the world.

Sharing her opinion as one of the panelists at the conference, Ms. Mao Xhzhi, a reporter of China Central Television, said that responding to HIV/AIDS epidemics, media have two main roles -- outreaching message on the risk to the public and bringing the fact information on problems at the grassroots to the government level so that it can take appropriate measures to respond to the crisis.

At the conference, slogans were also raised such as “It’s time to share: Men get on board for AIDS action now!” and “It’s time to listen: give mothers and babies a voice!” Journalists agreed that they would play more in “the broad-based strategy to contain the spread of HIV by bringing practical knowledge to the public with the widest coverage and that the task has to be done in close cooperation with specialists, and to avoid wrong, ineffective or counter-productive messages being disseminated.”
However, media participants expressed their concerns over the governments’ pressure on free press, strict culture and national taboo and such problems are still the main obstacles for media to bring the facts to their audiences.

According to the event organizers, more than 500 media owners and practitioners, government officials, policymakers, academic and senior representatives from development institutions of over 60 countries from Asia, Pacific, Africa, America and Europe participated in the media summit. It was organized by Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development along with other partners.

Besides the topic of HIV/AIDS, the conference was also followed by Asia Media Summit 2007 to focus on the future of Public Service Broadcast Media and their participatory task in responding to other crisis like discrimination, women and gender issues, children violence, minority integration, environment, and climate change, especially the UN Millennium Development Goals. Story and picture by Chhay Sophal.

Newspaper publisher body found in suitcase

A Cambodian publisher of a local newspaper -- Voice of Khmer Krom -- was found dead and stuffed inside a suitcase on Wednesday in Kampong Speu province, about 40 kilometers outside Phnom Penh capital. Pov Sam Arth, 28, who was also the paper’s editor-in-chief was strangled and dumped in a deep valley, some 200 meters from national route 4.
Police said they have not had detailed information yet about the murder but that Sam Arth could be killed in Phnom Penh before dumping. They said Sam Arth was beaten into the face and strangled with a thin cable. Police said they are investigating the case.
At least seven journalists have been killed since the early 1990s and no one has been found for justice. Chhay Sophal (The picture: Sam Arth's photo and his body. It was picked up from a local newspaper, Raksmei Kampuchea)

A Way to Change Reporters' Work

At the time when technology is being developed in the digital period, media outlets and their parishioners also need to develop their way of work so that they can catch up the latest programmes and the consumers. The digital century really forces journalists to be flexible in providing their spiritual products to audience.

While youth are ignoring reading newspapers, the number of young people who do not read also increase. They of course don’t spend their free time to read while podcast, iPod, TV, music, and internet, including email and e-chatting, are invading their private times. With the high-tech, people can download text, images, audio, and video from their PCs and cell phones at home, office, and the fields where the line service is available.

The evolution of technology is running high. So the way of news providing also need to be changed to catch up the evolution and adapt to the audience’ needs. First, only newspapers, and then radio and TVs. After satellite TVs provide many channels to viewers, internet, email and SMS (Short Message Service) through mobile phone become more popular.

Now the digital period is arriving and in such situation, traditional media outlets and practitioners have to change their traditional way of work. They need to change their mean to provide news to the public otherwise they cannot attract their audiences. I really agree with what Dr. Dietmar Schantin, director of Infra’s Newsplex, who talked to Journalism.co.uk about the philosophy behind convergence and his revolutionary ideas to change the editorial process that “It’s important for newspapers to embrace these new technologies. They have great editorial departments with highly skilled journalists, their content is of high quality. So why not trying to reach the audience via other channels, there is no reason why not.”

In short, technology has absolutely changed and will continue to change reporters' work in both technical and habitual ways. If not, they will lose their audience in the digital world.

The Potential of Blogs and Moblogs to Change the Way That Reporters Work

In the digital reign, both bogs (web logs) and moblogs (mobile web logs) are spreading around the globe and they really change the work of reporters. While people can view news text, photos, video pictures, MP3, downloading webpages, and checking emails on 3G cellular telephone screen and other mobile devices, news makers in the new age need to learn how to use and post text, image, video, and sound through the electronic materials. Deadline’s very important for journalists. With cellphones, they are now unnecessary to go to their offices to file stories and post pictures like the old-media style but they can do from the field where they work. They seem to bring their newsrooms with them to everywhere. Through her/his blogs and mobogs, a reporter can do multi-functions. S/he can write and edit news stories, take photos and video footages, and post them on her/his own blog and moblog.

From day to day, technology is updated too fast. From traditional print media, the world jump up to radio, TV, and then internet with non-stopped developed digital items. Reporters, therefore, must develop and improve their multi-skills – a combination of text, image, sound, and interactivity -- so that they are able to catch up the digital style and its players. I really agree with what the authors said in Convergent Journalism, P. 75 that “The world of convergence is a world of creative opportunities. Those opportunities are most open to people who have more than one skills and work across styles. Journalists who are not afraid to break the mold on style, while adhering to the rules on substance and ethics, will then be the ones who will create a new form of storytelling”.

However, what reporters need to do is to earn their blogs and moblogs viewers’ trust. END

Professional Blogging Can Worry Dictatorial Leadership

Blogs are now very popular among people living in nations where freedom of expression and free press exist and where governments respect human rights and respect public opinion.

Blogs can of course reveal a story so that news hunters can check and update stories in accordance with their respective interests. Though many blogs have so much information and the images posted sometimes can be faked or illegal, they can be the hints for the viewers. I agree that some information in blogs is unclear and untrue but it at least paves the way for the real news seekers to follow up and verify for their audiences.

Because of free flow of information on the facts from anonymous sources, some countries try to block blogs. Citing ineffective and unacceptable violation of privacy and defaming governments and leaders, dictatorial, military-ruled, and one state-party nations and their authorities try to set up cyber police to control all internet users and tracking down bloggers. Such governments really do not want their bad things to outreach to the public otherwise their reputation can be pained and their power can be weak through the citizens’ protests. As the result, many bloggers have been thrown into jails due to their reveal the fact of negative activities of their governments and leaders on the blogs.
Undeniably, terrorists, racketeers or pedophile can use blogs to commit crimes but with this regard, it is good for the blogs that provide technical ways to get round censorship and security for both creators and users.

On the other hand, while the world is gaining more citizen journalists, community blogs can help alert citizens so that they can be ready for either supports or challenges for their common interests. Communities can also share information to their members at the grassroots through the citizen journalists’ blog posting. At the same time, bloggers have to be more careful with their posting. They should follow the 5Ws and H rule so that their posting can be more reliable. END