The Impact of the J2J Program On Worldwide HIV Awareness

This report shares an evaluation of the National Press Foundation (NPF)'s Journalist-to-Journalist HIV/AIDS training programme (J2J), the main intention of which is "preparing selected journalists to cover the International AIDS Conferences, and then to continue to cover the subject at a higher level than previously imagined".

An external group of researchers familiar with the HIV/AIDS scientific literature conducted an evaluation of the J2J programme on HIV/AIDS with the main objective of establishing the impact, pertinence, and accuracy of reports that journalists attending such programmes have published or broadcasted. The team: (i) examined the content of curricula covered in each conference (Barcelona, 2002, Bangkok, 2004, Toronto, 2006, and Sydney, 2007) by pairs of journalists and issued a descriptive statement on completeness of the programme; (ii) examined a random sample of 30 reports by journalists who participated in J2J for importance/relevance and accuracy; (iii) assessed the journalists' evaluation of the Sydney conference J2J programme, and compared it with previous evaluations from other conferences; and (iv) conducted a short survey of former programme attendees.

An excerpt from the report follows:

"The program has fully met its main purpose of enabling journalists to effectively transmit medical, epidemiological and scientific information to the general public in lay language. This, in turn, may to help to raise the interest of the general public in developing countries in regard to resources that can effectively be mobilized to reduce transmission of HIV and to treat those living with HIV/AIDS.

Although the program does an excellent job at enhancing journalistic skills to translate scientific information into lay language, there appears to be a shortage of information as to what journalists should be doing at a local level....

The J2J program has an opportunity to engage in outreach to help direct and/or support international education campaigns through the networks that have now been established. A continuous and synchronized effort to promote education of communities through written publications and/or radio programs might be established using the broad human resource represented by the J2J program. The creation of material based on the J2J presentations and local replication of similar programs could be encouraged, and could also be carried out in other languages. Ongoing feedback from such efforts could then be used to improve the overall effort, which could be implemented and locally tailored to regional needs for use in subsequent initiatives.

The J2J program in HIV/AIDS of the National Press Foundation has accomplished its main goal of enhancing appropriate worldwide press coverage of HIV/AIDS. Journalists have reported that the program is highly useful and enables them to cover and inform the public in a variety of areas: experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS, impact on society, the reasons for stigma, and how to work toward destigmatization of HIV status, hopes and limitations of current therapy including issues of drug access in developing countries, prospects for promising therapy and prevention, and the successes and failures of research and/or public health initiatives. Vital information in each of these areas needs to reach the general public, who will ultimately decide what it is important to pay attention to and in which areas to establish priorities. In addition, journalist reports are an effective means of providing information on HIV awareness to vulnerable populations, hopefully helping to lower rates of infection and educating those who are infected by HIV to seek adequate help. Public awareness can help to guide public opinion and influence government policy in a positive way and to counter stigma, which is often a result of misperceptions. Journalists play important roles in each of these areas and the J2J program has played a key role in educating journalists worldwide to do their job better."