(Graphic courtesy of GLAAD)
The LGBTQ media monitoring organization GLAAD conducted a study over an 18-month timeframe of 181 Southern media outlets spanning through Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas to track news coverage on the rising numbers of HIV cases in the South.
The study, which looked at news published in both print and broadcast television from June 2019 to December 2020, is part of the Gilead COMPASS Initiative, a more than $100 million commitment over 10 years from the pharmaceutical company to support organizations working to address the HIV epidemic in the Southern United States. In GLAAD’ s findings they discovered most of the outlets lacked LGBTQ and HIV content.
Of the news outlets GLAAD looked into, they found 39 outlets produced zero or negligible LGBTQ content for the entire time period. In each of the nine states studied, there was at least one outlet that failed to report a single LGBTQ story during the 18-month period. The study points out that one in three LGBTQ Americans live in a Southern state, meaning the issue isn’t a lack of LGBTQ residents in the area but media outlets not reaching out.
Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and President of GLAAD, expressed her disappointment at Southern media outlets.
“Local media have a tremendous responsibility to represent all in their communities, and that must include LGBTQ people,” Ellis said in a press release.
Only 79 stories were produced that addressed HIV across a region that has the highest rates of new infections, deaths and includes an estimated 500,000 people living with HIV. Only 27 out of the 79 HIV-related stories were substantive, including any facts about the latest science about prevention, treatment and transmission, and how people with HIV are living long, healthy lives and, when on proper medications, cannot transmit.
Brett Pletcher, executive vice president, corporate affairs and general counsel of Gilead Sciences, explained if LGBTQ and HIV issues were covered more frequently, it may help to reduce stigma surrounding those with HIV.
“HIV remains a public health crisis in the United States and it continues to disproportionately impact Black and LGBTQ+ communities, particularly in the U.S. South,” Pletcher said. “Stories to present facts and raise awareness about HIV while dismantling stigma are essential to helping end the epidemic in the region.”
Key Findings:
-1,300 stories about or including LGBTQ people across all nine states
-39 outlets had no or negligible LGBTQ content in their reports; at least one outlet in every Southern state studied did not produce an LGBTQ-related story during the 18-month period
-Mississippi had the most number of outlets (12) with zero LGBTQ coverage
-Only 79 stories were produced that addressed HIV across a region that has the highest rates of new infections, deaths and includes an estimated 500,000 people living with HIV
-Of the 79 HIV-related stories, only 27 were substantive, including any facts about latest science about prevention, treatment, and transmission, and how people with HIV are living long, healthy lives and, when on proper medications, cannot transmit
GLAAD also evaluated Southern local news coverage for basic reporting practices, and included recommendations for improving coverage of LGBTQ people and issues:
-Include LGBTQ voices and local LGBTQ people in stories;
-Report authentic names and pronouns of transgender people, avoiding misgendering and “deadnaming” — reporting the birthname a transgender person no longer uses;
-Cover HIV issues with facts about how HIV is preventable, survivable, treatable and when treated effectively becomes undetectable and untransmittable (U=U); and
-Avoid false “balance” storytelling and factcheck anti-LGBTQ sources with objective data, including a history of anti-equality advocacy.
You can read the full report here.
