Framing of AIDS in Africa: Press-state relations, HIV/AIDS news, and journalistic advocacy in four sub-Saharan Anglophone newspapers

Abstract

This study offers the first systematic analysis of the impact of press-state relations, or media systems, on the HIV/AIDS news agenda in African news coverage. The premise is that media systems play a determining role in the degree to which journalists can independently advocate for social change when covering HIV/AIDS. Drawing on comparative research, four sub-Saharan countries were categorized into two media systems: Contained Democratic (South Africa, Nigeria) and Repressive Autocratic (Zimbabwe, Kenya). A sample of HIV/AIDS stories (n = 393) published from 2002-2007 in each country's leading Anglophone newspaper was content analyzed. Across all coverage, the topic of social costs was framed more for the responsibility borne by nongovernmental agents than governmental agents. In Contained Democratic media systems, however, story emphasis shifted toward government agents taking responsibility for addressing the social costs of HIV/AIDS. Prevention campaigns were framed more as progress than decline across all newspapers; however, campaigns were reported as being more efficacious in Contained Democratic systems than in Repressive Autocratic systems. No impact of media system on framing of medical developments was found. Results show the value of comparative analysis in understanding the agenda-setting process: with greater emphasis on positive efficacy and government initiative, the news agenda in Contained Democratic media systems can facilitate stronger positive societal-level responses than the news agenda in Repressive Autocratic media systems.

Multisectoral (in)action: towards effective mainstreaming of HIV in public sector departments in South Africa

“…The cross-cutting impact of HIV has facilitated involvement, with sectors recognising that each has a role in the response to HIV. As observed by others, framing of the problem or the issue of HIV, in our study, from a developmental perspective was a critical step in bringing in non-health sectors to be actively involved in the response to HIV (Clark, 2006;D'Angelo, Pollock, Kiernicki, & Shaw, 2013). Non-health sector departments were able to locate themselves, addressing the social and structural drivers of the HIV epidemic in line with their main responsibility and function.…”

Narratives of death: Systemic determinants of the coverage of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern

“…D’Angelo et al (2013) also delineated media systems found in sub-Saharan African countries and argued that the media system found in this region of the global south is a variation of the Polarized Pluralist system found in Mediterranean countries. According to D’Angelo and his colleagues, this system is marked by high political parallelism and external pluralism and instrumentalized advocacy.…”

“…To this end, I analysed newspaper articles from national newspapers from three West African countries (Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia). These three countries represent the Polarized Pluralist media system according to D’Angelo et al’s (2013) modified version of the Hallin and Mancini (2004) model. I also analysed newspaper articles from the United States and the United Kingdom to represent the Liberal model.…”

“…These characteristics are combined with a majoritarian politics, organized pluralism and less tolerance for press autonomy. The press in sub-Saharan African countries shares similar attributes with the press in countries that make up the Polarized Pluralist media system and are therefore considered a part of the system (D’Angelo et al, 2013).…”

Comparing Cross-National Coverage of Genetically Modified Organisms: A Community Structure Approach

“…Previous research reveals that the higher the percentage of particular issue stakeholders in a community, the more likely newspaper coverage will report favorably on their interests (McLeod & Hertog, 1999; Pollock, 2007). For example, an examination of sub-Saharan Anglophone African newspaper coverage of AIDS found that a higher proportion of AIDs victims within a nation paralleled a greater media support for government intervention to fight the crisis (D’Angelo, Pollock, Kiernicki, & Shaw, 2013).…”