Reporting on HIV/AIDS in Africa: A Manual
"Selling" the Story to Editors

One of the greatest challenges in covering HIV/AIDS issues is selling story ideas to the gatekeepers, or the editors and senior producers who decide which stories make it and which don't, and which should get prominent space or airtime.

Editorial decision-makers can present formidable obstacles to prominent, in-depth, and regular coverage of HIV/AIDS - or any sort of coverage of HIV/AIDS. Journalists eager to publish or broadcast stories on HIV/AIDS describe these barriers imposed by their bosses, including editors, producers, publishers, owners, and others making editorial decisions:

• Editors are tired of covering AIDS. They say that they have "been there, done that," and that it is not news any more. They may be under the impression that their audience is already adequately informed about HIV/AIDS.
• There can be stiff competition for print space or airtime, making it difficult to slot in substantial stories on HIV/AIDS, or to do so on a regular basis.

Here are some of the biggest barriers that journalists face when trying to cover areas such as women and HIV/AIDS. These simple strategies have been used successfully by journalists from different regions of the world.³²

Editorial Barriers	Strategies for Leaping Over the Obstacles
Editors, managers and even journalism school faculty consider topics dealing with health and "women's story issues" "soft," and not newsworthy.	General strategy: Package the stories well. Be creative. A brilliant story about a topic that may have sounded dull to an editor will sell. Find a new hook/peg for the story. Link the HIV/AIDS story with some current event(s) or with policy/politics. Delve into the topic, and cover it in greater depth than has been done before. Use allies, or informal channels, to get approval, or at least support, for broadcasting or publishing the story. Work with information sources, such as non-governmental organizations, to get useful and timely information on a regular basis. Plan stories for idle news days when they are more likely to get print space or airtime. Write or produce media analyses of coverage of HIV/AIDS and of women and HIV/AIDS and publish or broadcast these in the mainstream media and in respected trade publications. These will inspire and open the eyes of editors, managers, and reporters to the importance of HIV/AIDS coverage and the opportunities it presents.
The gatekeepers think that HIV/AIDS is an old story.	HIV/AIDS is no more an old story than politics is a tired story. Investigate the myriad aspects of women and HIV/AIDS. Take a different approach to reporting on HIV/AIDS. Traditionally, coverage of HIV/AIDS has been sensationalist, alarmist, and gloomy. Change this. Look at promising initiatives, success stories, acts of courage, and people who are making positive change. In preparing or proposing a story, think about and then show how this particular aspect of HIV/AIDS is newsworthy. Identify what is new, such as discoveries in research on HIV/AIDS, the latest data on rates of infection, new data on infection rates among different population groups, developments in how programs are fighting HIV/AIDS, social changes brought about by HIV/AIDS, progress in the pharmaceutical industry.
Male-dominated media are not interested in the topic, or in women's aspects of HIV/AIDS.	Do research to find out who is in an audience, including its information needs and interests. Show editors and managers that women are an important audience and that they are interested in these kinds of stories. Propose stories with diplomacy and tact, but stay firm and calm, and maintain resolve. Find allies in the media organization. Engage their support. Use informal channels and networks to get stories approved, or at least to garner support for them.
Certain aspects of HIV/AIDS and of women and HIV/AIDS, including some of the language, may be culturally shocking.	Survey audiences to find out what they are really interested in, and what they are willing to hear or read.
Editors and managers - possibly reflecting an important segment of the public - may be afraid to deal with a particular issue.	When covering a controversial issue, or a harmful practice that is traditional, listen to all sides. Make sure the coverage is balanced. Find allies and pioneers in the community who deal with a particular issue. Use ethics, judgment and common sense as a guide. Use non-judgmental, clear, concise language. Use the terms recommended by those working in the HIV/AIDS field.
Women in management or senior editorial positions may be overly cautious about giving space or time to stories that may appear to be focused on "women's issues."	For a story focusing on what could be considered "women's issues," show the connection with another "hard" issue(s). For example, explain and illustrate the impact on the family structure and dynamics, on the greater community, on education and labor, and on business policy. Using the latest data, show the editors that in Africa, more women than men have HIV/AIDS.
There is a lack of coordination between editors and reporters so stories fall by the wayside. Editors and managers have a formula that works for them in making editorial decisions, and new HIV/AIDS stories may not appear to fit into that formula.	Open and maintain lines of communication with editors and managers. Discuss plans to prepare an HIV/AIDS story early enough for the editors to include it in a line-up. Find a news angle that will justify using the story.

The first suggestion presented in the above table will help journalists overcome just about any barrier. As seasoned journalists advise, packaging a story well - giving it a good news angle, making it relevant, being original, using clear and lively language, providing accurate and timely facts, putting a human face on it - is the best strategy.