HIV sometimes gets good coverage in the media. At other times the media uses clichés, is inaccurate and expresses prejudice. It can be annoying to find HIV described as a ‘death sentence’ or to see people with HIV being represented as irresponsible.

One way of coping with stigma in the media is to ignore it. If you know that an article in a newspaper or a programme on the TV or radio is going to upset you or make you angry, then you don’t need to read, watch or listen to it.

Try and develop a strategy for dealing with inaccurate or stigmatising media items. For example, tell yourself how poor it is that a journalist is so bad at their job that they can’t get basic facts right. Or try reminding yourself that the stigma or prejudice that an item reflects is simply wrong.

“I’ve seen documents using the word ‘AIDS’ when they mean HIV. They just automatically say the word AIDS. To me, it kind of means final, it’s too strong a word.”

“One of the biggest stigmatising things, I think, is the way the media presents those criminalisation cases. That the whole issue is turned into innocent victim horror, you know a horrid evil character who is going out and doing it.”

You might want to write a letter of comment or complaint, pointing out the item’s faults and inaccuracies.

News-based websites usually have a response page where you can point out errors and inaccuracies. Any reputable TV or radio station will have a department to respond to viewers’ and listeners’ comments and complaints, and newspapers and magazines have letters pages.

The National AIDS Trust (NAT) has a specialist press department which actively challenges bad coverage of HIV. So if you don’t feel confident complaining to the media yourself, try contacting NAT’s press office on 020 7812 6767. NAT has made successful complaints to the Press Complaints Commission (0845 600 2757) about the way HIV is reported.

NAT also has a team of people with HIV called the ‘Press Gang.’ They are interested in engaging with the media to try and make sure that HIV is accurately reported and that inaccuracies are challenged. For more information, contact NAT on the number listed above.

Similarly, the African Health Policy Network (AHPN) has a group called Ffena. They also aim to influence the way the media talks about HIV and can be contacted on 020 7017 8910.

Should you become the focus of media attention, think very carefully before speaking to a journalist and consider asking an HIV agency with experience of media work for support.

“It was a couple of weeks after I was diagnosed. I read an article in a Sunday newspaper that said that it wasn’t people with HIV who deserved compassion, but uninfected people who we were a ‘risk’ to. I was so angry, and it tapped into a feeling I had about being ‘dirty.’ I wanted to scream and cry with pain and anger. But time has passed, and as I’ve come to terms with HIV, I deal with this sort of prejudice in a better way. There was recently an article in a magazine saying that people with HIV who infected others were guilty of ‘murder.’ I wrote a calm letter pointing out the writer’s ignorance of HIV treatment, and it got published!”