DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.187439.1 ISSN: 2046-1402

HIV/AIDS, Media, and Health Journalism: Exploring Empathetic Journalism Practices in HIV/AIDS Reporting on the Mass Media

Mas'amah Mas'amah, Monika Wutun, Herman Elfridus Seran, Apris A. Adu, Emanuel Sowe Leuape
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Background This study explores the practices of health journalism in mass media coverage of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) during World HIV/AIDS Day on the online media platform Pos-Kupang.com. It evaluates whether online news is written from a perspective of empathy towards people living with HIV (PLHIV) or simply centers on tracking case statistics and reporting negative case distributions. Methods The research employed Zhongdan Pan and Gerald M. Kosicki’s Framing Analysis model, operationalizing four structural text dimensions as framing devices: Syntactic, Script, Thematic, and Rhetorical. Data collection was conducted virtually by selecting all active news stories related to HIV/AIDS published by Pos-Kupang.com during December 2023. Results Out of eight dedicated news stories monitored, only two were deemed to have been written about the active human struggles of PLHIV to overcome social stigma and discrimination. The overall framing output was dictated by daily media routines and individual journalist characteristics, including their professional backgrounds, personalities, and personal attitudes. Conclusions Local online mass media platforms establish routine reporting columns for World AIDS Month but fail to incorporate empathetic journalism values. Media reporting structures reduce human suffering into statistical objects, reinforcing the urgent need for structured health journalism training to foster supportive public health communication.

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