Newspaper coverage of HIV/AIDS in China from 2000 to 2010

Abstract

Mass media in China play a significant role in the dissemination of HIV/AIDS knowledge to the general public. Previous studies have described how the Chinese mass media portray HIV/AIDS in general, but no study has yet to examine changes in patterns of HIV/AIDS reporting over time. This study aims to describe and examine newspaper coverage of HIV/AIDS in China from 2000 to 2010. A systematic search of the China Core Newspapers Database was conducted to identify HIV/AIDS-focused news articles; we found 3648 articles. Results show that coverage rates of HIV/AIDS in newspapers remained low, with only about three articles published per newspaper per year between 2000 and 2010. The sources focused primarily on prevention methods (23.7%), development of a cure or vaccine (21.2%), and education and awareness (17.2%). The HIV/AIDS-related topic covered in an article varied significantly depending on scope (national vs. local) of the newspaper (χ(2)=130.37, p<0.001) and article type (χ(2)=455.72, p<0.001). Totally, more articles were classified as positive than negative from 2002 to 2010. Findings indicate that the HIV/AIDS news-reporting pattern has shifted in the past decade, with more news stories disclosing information about prevention or treatment. However, coverage of HIV/AIDS remains insufficient. Enhancing collaboration between health educators and media sources can be an important strategy in disseminating HIV/AIDS knowledge.

Figure 1

Distribution of HIV/AIDS articles from January and December in Chinese newspaper.

Figure 2

Trends of HIV/AIDS article tone from 2000 to 2010 in Chinese newspaper.