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HIV infected people are not dreaded people; they are people like
you and me. Nor AIDS is a plague; it can be controlled if everyone
is well informed. What seemingly cannot be controlled, if not dreaded,
are the journalists who used these words to describe the HIV positives
and their condition. It is strange that journalists, while writing on
AIDS related subjects, unwittingly turn themselves into unthinking, unsympathetic
and callous agents of misinformation. Reading the local papers of Manipur,
I have always suspected that journalists do not respect the sensitivities
of the HIV infected people. Their reports are replete with language that
either offends, condescends or victimizes the people living with HIV. I have singled
out journalists because they have a special role to inform, advocate and
educate the masses, not to mention that "words are to them what stethoscope
is to doctors". Next to journalists are the doctors and even the volunteers
of NGOs working in the area of AIDS, who are equally culpable of the same
oversight in their oral and written communication.
This suspicion has been confirmed by my friend Karishma Singh of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who, along with other officials, has compiled a list of highly biased and victimizing words/phrases (given below) that Indian newspapers use while reporting on AIDS. I thank Karishma Singh and her Co. not only for their groundbreaking research but also because their work has given the Manipuri journalists a saving grace; the study, in fact, implicates all the major Indian newspapers
For her survey, she relied on a sample of varied press clippings collected
over a period of one year by the UNDP Regional HIV and Development Programme,
along with random articles generated by "Googling". The newspapers which
were put under the scanner were The Hindustan Times, The Times of India,
The Hindu, Business Line, Deccan Chronicle, New Line Express, Indian Express,
Asian Age, Pioneer, The Delhi Age, NCR Tribune, among others.
| Language newspapers
use |
Recommended
Language |
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AIDS scourge, plague: These imply that HIV/AIDS cannot be controlled.
These are sensational terms. They can fuel panic, discrimination and
hopelessness.
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HIV Epidemic
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| AIDS
Test: This does not exist. AIDS is diagnosed according to specific
medical criteria that identify the symptoms of AIDS. |
HIV Test. Tests do exist to determine
whether a person has HIV. These tests look for antibodies to HIV present
in a person's blood. |
To Catch AIDS: AIDS cannot be caught
or transmitted. People can become infected with HIV.
Transmission of HIV: is correct but it puts the emphasis on who and
how the virus is transmitted. Very often individuals with HIV do not
know when they became infected with HIV, so specialists in the HIV/AIDS
field suggest not dwelling on this. |
To become infected with HIV.
To contract HIV.
To become HIV- positive. |
AIDS
sufferer: Many people with HIV/AIDS can have relatively good
health for years. They can lead happy lives.
AIDS victim: Victim suggests that the person is powerless
Innocent victim: Nobody chooses to have HIV. "Victim" and "Innocent"
suggest that there is someone who is guilty |
HIV Positive Person
Person Living with HIV(or person living with HIV/AIDS or person living
with AIDS)
Person with HIV (or person with HIV/AIDS or person with AIDS) |
| Safe sex: No sex with a partner is
ever completely risk free even when using a condom which can greatly
reduce but never fully eliminate the risk |
Safer sex |
| Promiscuous:
This is judgmental, accusatory and derogatory |
Having multiple partners |
| Prostitute: This is a derogatory,
insulting, value laden word |
Sex worker |
| Drug abuser, drug addict: Many people
who use drugs consider that they are in control of their use of drugs
and that they are not abusing them and are not addicted to them. Calling
them abusers or addicts alienates them, which serves no good purpose.
It is the act of injecting with a contaminated needle, not the drug
use itself, that can transmit HIV. |
Intravenous Drug User (IDU) |
| Homosexual: This is a Western idea
of one's identity. In different regions of the world, men who have
sex with men do not necessarily have a gay or homosexual identity. |
Men who have sex with men |
| To die
of AIDS: AIDS is not a disease. It is a syndrome or a group
of illnesses- resulting from a weakening of the immune system. This
weakening is caused by HIV and opens the body to "opportunistic" diseases-
that is, illness that take advantage of weak immunity. |
To die of a (specific) illness, such
as tuberculosis or cancer.
To die of an AIDS - related illness. |
The greatest tool of a journalist is the language. When a writer uses certain
words, he/she must be sure they are the most appropriate words that express
the intended meanings -- unless his/her purpose is to baffle everyone, lurch
the readers into a tailspin of confusions and keep them guessing. Yes,
such technique of verbal obfuscation has its advantages, especially when
a timid editor wants to criticize certain trigger happy organizations
but doesn't have the spine to do so in precise, clear-cut and ruthless
words. In that case, he/she has a vested interest in making the piece equivocal.
Even then, the act represents not real journalism but sham journalism,
for journalists who don't believe in freedom of expression might as well
sell soaps. Do I make myself clear?
* This young talented writer is a frequent contributor to e-pao.net.
He has started a weblog in the name of Whistleblower
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