Journalists should focus on the personal stories of people with AIDS, panelists said during a discussion about AIDS coverage in the media that was held last night in the Weschler Theater.
AU students gathered for the World AIDS day panel hosted by the Center for Social Media, which featured the work of independent filmmaker Christoph Putzel. Also speaking were National Press Foundation president and former Washington Post writer Bob Meyers, and Christina Arnold, the founder of Project Hope International.
The audience consisted mainly of AU communication and journalism students, whom Meyers called the "second generation of AIDS coverage." According to Meyers, the first generation of AIDS coverage consisted of scientific information and statistics, but now coverage focuses more on the human stories behind the disease.
"From a scientific point of view, [AIDS] is really interesting," said Meyers. "But we've gone beyond understanding just the technical aspects. Journalists need to focus on the stories."
Putzel's featured documentary, "Left Behind," tells some of those stories. A 30-minute film about the affect of AIDS on children in Kenya, Putzel's documentary showed images of the poverty, violence, and tragedy surrounding the lifes of Kenya's AIDS orphans and HIV-infected children.
Since Putzel made the film as a senior in college in 2000, "Left Behind" has gone on to win numerous prizes. The documentary was also shown before the United Nations and on Capitol Hill.
Asked how a young, independent filmmaker received so much attention, Putzel said that his strong feelings for the issue led him to contact senators and others involved in AIDS work. "What really drove it was how shocked I was that I didn't know about [the AIDS crisis]," Putzel said.
Meyers and Arnold both cited the stigmas behind AIDS as a cause for a lack of coverage or knowledge. It is difficult to find ways to address the AIDS issue without provoking criticism for "breeding child prostitution" in AIDS-stricken countries, Arnold said.
Meyers stated that the high rate of AIDS among drug addicts and prostitutes makes it difficult to find the public sympathy necessary to tell the AIDS story.
"You have to emphasize the humanness of AIDS victims," said Meyers. "[Prostitutes] may have been sold by their parents, or kidnapper ... these people often have no way to make a living."
Putzel agreed that it's important to avoid judgments.
"It doesn't matter whose fault it is, let's just clean it up," he said.
AU student Lisa Pelletier attended the event out of a desire to become involved in World AIDS Day.
"The film was great," said Pelletier. "I think is important to hear more than statistics when we talk about AIDS. There's a need to tell the stories more."
Putzel said anyone with interest and determination can contribute to that effort.
"When I made this film, I was just like you. I had just graduated from a good college ... I had a handheld mini-cam," Putzel said. "It's really incredible the power you have to do something ... people have got to know about this. [AIDS] is relevent to everybody. It will affect you"
