AEGiS-07IAC: Audience understandings of media messages about AIDS.

7th International AIDS Conference


Florence, Italy — June 16-21, 1991

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Audience understandings of media messages about AIDS.

Int Conf AIDS 1991 Jun 16-21; 7:455 (abstract no. W.D.4271)
Kitzinger J, Beharrell P, Miller D; Glasgow University Media Group, Scotland UK

OBJECTIVE: To explore the process of production, the content and audience understandings of AIDS media messages.

METHODS: Two years of AIDS media coverage was subjected to detailed content analysis, 88 journalists and their sources were interviewed, 52 different pre-existing audience groups were engaged in guided discussion and exercises such as writing their own news bulletin about AIDS. The audience groups were chosen to explore diverse perspectives and ranged from the police to male prostitutes, from schoolgirls to retired people.

RESULTS: The research demonstrates how audience understandings are affected by the media (particularly the language and explanatory structure of media stories). It also shows how mass media reporting (eg, the focus on images of people 'wasting away' from AIDS) can undermine health education messages (such as 'you can't tell who is HIV positive'). However, audiences are neither passive nor homogenous consumers of the media; we identify the role of factors such as people's prior perceptions of groups (eg, lesbians) or places (eg, Africa), their personal experiences, peer group norms and the 'facts' which are reiterated through social networks. The research offers a model for pre-testing education material and developing mass media and health campaign strategies.

Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Health Education, Mass Media, Advertising, HIV Infections, Communication, HIV, Interpersonal Relations, Health Promotion, Comprehension, Africa, Male, ICA7KWDaegis,acquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome,healtheducation,massmedia,advertising,hivinfections,communication,hiv,interpersonalrelations,healthpromotion,comprehension,africa,male,ica7
910616
WD4271

Copyright © 1991 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.