The media is incredibly powerful in influencing people's
attitudes and understanding of HIV. Stories in the media can
have a positive effect in increasing people's awareness of HIV
and what it means to live with HIV. However media reports about
HIV are often stigmatising or inaccurate. Many stories
contribute to a culture of blame about HIV transmission,
focusing on so-called irresponsible sexual activity, use
judgmental language and stereotype people living with HIV.
Improving the media's coverage of HIV issues is vital to tackle
discrimination experienced by people living with HIV, improve
people's knowledge and help prevent the spread of the virus. NAT
works in a number of ways to improve the media's reporting of
HIV. NAT has produce a number of resources to help journalists
make sure that the articles they write contain accurate
information about HIV, are not misleading and do not encourage
negative perceptions about HIV. NAT worked with the National
Union of Journalists (NUJ), Society of Editors and Pres