Study of Print Media Coverage of Aids Victims and Virus Carriers Compared with Government Aids Statistics

Abstract

Why is there so much anxiety today about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome? Nine out of ten people who have the disease or have been infected by the virus are homosexuals or intravenous drug users. In addition, government health experts say these groups will comprise the vast majority of people with AIDS well into the 1990's. Certainly, AIDS is a terrifying disease that should raise concern among health conscious people. But why has genuine public concern escalated to a level of anxiety that prompts a large segment of society to call for a quarantine of AIDS victims and virus carriers even though all evidence indicates the disease is not passed through casual contact? Part of the answer to these questions surely lies in the kinds of information about AIDS delivered to the public by the mass media. Unless we know people or have friends who have the disease, the only picture we get of AIDS is what we read, see, and hear from the mass media.