The Politicizing of AIDS

Abstract

The Surgeon General's report on AIDS brought Federal government into issue with result that use of government sources increased substantially. Despite recent encouraging declines in deaths, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome remains a significant threat to society. No cure has been found, and AIDS is leading killer of African-American males age 25-44.(1) The Centers for Disease Control recently termed AIDS a severe and ongoing health in minority health communities.(2) Furthermore, it is estimated that 40,000 new infections occur each year.(3) The medical community first became aware of AIDS in 1981. Within 18 months of its discovery in United States, more than 1,000 confirmed cases had been reported. By 1990, more than 100,000 confirmed cases and 70,000 deaths were reported. There were 641,086 confirmed cases and 390,692 deaths as of December 1997.(4) The mainstream media were slow to publish reports about AIDS, even as number of cases grew. Many have attributed early lag in coverage to a reluctance by press to publish stories about homosexuals.(5) During initial stages of epidemic, AIDS was perceived by many in media and public as a gay story. Coverage expanded in 1983 following publication of a news release based on an editorial in Journal of American Medical Association. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and author of editorial, suggested that routine household contact might spread AIDS. Thus, editorial implied that AIDS could infect general population. With society at large now deemed at potential risk, news value of AIDS increased.(6) A dramatic increase in coverage occurred in 1985 after actor Rock Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS. Hudson's plight and that of Ryan White, a 13-year-old hemophiliac with AIDS who was barred from attending public school same year, personalized and humanized AIDS and were critical in changing journalists' perceptions of epidemic.(7) Although AIDS was now considered important news, Randy Shilts wrote that one aspect of epidemic was ignored by media: federal government's role in combating virus.(8) At this time, for example, Reagan administration had not launched a coordinated AIDS prevention program. Furthermore, President Reagan did not discuss AIDS during first six years of his presidency.(9) But, according to Shilts, Tina Perez and George Dionisopoulos, media coverage changed substantially with October 22,1986 release of Surgeon General's Report on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, first substantive statement about AIDS by a member of Reagan administration.(10) Written personally by Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop, 36-page report called for AIDS education for children, advocated widespread use of condoms and stated that any form of quarantine or compulsory identification of those infected with human immunodeficiency virus would be useless in fighting epidemic. The report, according to Shilts, galvanized media and allowed AIDS to achieve critical mass to make it a pivotal social issue of 1987.(11) Perez and Dionisopoulos assert report greatly influenced the socio-political environment in which AIDS crisis was discussed.(12) Similarly, Simon Weeks said report inspired a governmental policy shift that helped AIDS become perceived as a major social issue.(13) Everett Rogers, James Dearing and Soonbum Chang don't mention Surgeon General's Report in their analysis of AIDS media coverage from June 1981 through December 1988. However, it is evident from their data that coverage increased after report's release and foreshadowed start of political era of AIDS coverage.(14) If release of Surgeon General's Report was a turning point in both AIDS crisis and how media addressed issue, as these studies suggest, there should have been a noticeable shift in coverage following report's publication. …