Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1989)
STEPHEN D. YEW, ju st new s D.M.D. AIDS and the m edia A GENTLE APPROACH TO DENTISTRY Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 8 am-5 pm 1220 N. Jantzen Ave. Suite 480, Second Floor Phone: 289-1215 The New York Times virtually ignored the AIDS story for the first three-and-a-half years of the epidemic because of homophobia on the part of its editor BY BETTER HEALTH CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC "A Total Personal Health Concept" • Deep Muscle Work • Exercise/Prevention • Sportsmedicine 222-2888 Doctor on 24 hour page for emergencies Rena Sandler, D C. 812 SW Washington, Suite 800 W orkers’ Comp & Auto Insurance Cover Chiropractic Care Insurance Accepted “Now open in Northwest Portland.’’ 17 7 6047 NORTHWEST VETERINARY HOSPITAL SUSAN D. MORGAN, V.M.D. 1320 NW 20th Avenue Portland, OR 97209 Pr-odacùo/fg proudly presents LAURA DAVIS Co-author of “ The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse" IN A DAY-LONG WORKSHOP FOR Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse S u n . A p ril 23, 10 am - 5 pm Y W C A , 1111 S W 10th $50 - $65 sliding scale/some scholarships available. This workshop is open to non-perpetrating women survivors, and is limited to 80 participants. A benefit for Portland Women’s Crisis Line For information call 281-4635 NAME PHONE ADDRESS CITY AMT. ENCLOSED $ STATE ZIP Make checks out to: I P o rtla n d W o m e n ’s C risis Line j and mail to: I Girlfriend Productions, 1734 NE Hancock 97212 I I----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 kjstout • 8 • March 1989 A N N D E E H O C H M A N overage of AIDS stories by newspapers, television, and radio nationwide in the last seven years soared and fell depending on journalists’ perceptions of how close the disease was to home, Los Angeles He raid-Examiner editorial editor James Kinsella told a group of journalists in Portland last month. About 70 reporters, editors, and broadcasters, mostly from media outlets in Oregon and Washington, discussed “ What Happened to the AIDS Crisis?” in a day-long symposium spon sored by the local Society of Professional Journalists and the Cascade AIDS Project. The symposium brought news professionals, health administrators, and activists together to examine issues ranging from “ The Economics of AIDS; Who Pays and Who Profits” to “ Guilt, Innocence, and the Language of AIDS.” For journalists, driven by the pressure of daily deadlines and the quest for “ new” news, covering AIDS demands special endurance and perspective. Following spotty coverage during the early years of the epidemic, AIDS has become a heavily-covered story, with writers and broadcasters examining the medical, social, political, economic, and human-interest aspects of the disease. This coverage tended to peak and drop depending on the perceived threat of AIDS to journalists themselves, their own social circles, and their audiences, said Kinsella. He recently spent a year studying how journalists covered AIDS and wrote a book, Covering a Plague, due out in the fall. The New YorkTimes, a paper with the clout to set agendas for public decision-makers, as well as other media, virtually ignored the AIDS story for the first three-and-a-half years of the epidemic because of homophobia on the part of its editor, Kinsella said. Abe Rosenthal, the Times' executive editor at the time, “ made it clear that AIDS was not an issue to be covered,’ ’ Kinsella said. The first page-one New York Times story about AIDS did not appear until May 1983, when the Centers for Disease Control had already tallied 1,450 cases and 558 deaths from AIDS. The death of Rock Hudson in 1985 provoked a barrage of coverage, as did indications that heterosexual transmission of AIDS was on the increase (assertions that later were disputed). Homophobia, provincialism, and an inflated sense of mission as “ educators” kept many in C the press conservative about publishing AIDS stories, Kinsella said. Newspapers hesitated because, Kinsella said, the epidemic “ hadn’t hit their communities y e t. . . The question should have been: ‘What’s happening out there?’ The more we treat AIDS in the context of our duty to educate, the more we obfuscate what this disease is about. We should be led by one rule: what’s news?” Earlier in the conference, a discussion among three journalists, Tom Koberstein of the Cascade AIDS Project and Bob McAllister, AIDS coordinator of the Oregon Health Divi sion, revealed that the question of what consti tutes AIDS news may prompt many answers. The group debated the treatment of three hypothetical news stories that involved ethical, legal, and journalistic judgments. The most heated discussion followed this scenario: A prominent attorney in your town dies at the age o f 40. The cause o f death is rumored to be AIDS. His family calls you, the journalist, and asks you not to publish AIDS as the cause of death, saying it could have damaging results for the m an’s children. Meanwhile, the attorney’s lover calls you, provides some information for your stoiy and asks to be named as a survivor in the article. Although the journalists voiced different decisions on using the lover’s name and how to identify him (“ companion, longtime friend, lover’ ’) they seemed to agree that withholding AIDS as the cause of death only adds to the stigma surrounding the disease. Koberstein told the group about some of the more subtle ways news stories about AIDS can stigmatize those who suffer from it. “ The language used to write about AIDS has served to construct AIDS as a moral issue,” he said, pointing to uses of the word “ victim ” and language that “ draws a distinction between those who are innocent and those who are guilty.’’ He also cited the bewildering euphemisms used by many newspapers and broadcasters to describe how AIDS is trans mitted. Squeamish journalist wrote “ body fluids” when they meant “ semen, blood and vaginal secretions’’ and “ sexual contact” when they meant “ oral sex, anal sex, et cetera." Koberstein also objected to the wide use of the term “ risk groups.’ ’ Although certain popu lations may be statistically more likely to get AIDS, he said, this term tends to further pre judice. “ W e’ve wanted to say that anyone is at risk if he or she engages in certain behavior.’ » in sports such as swimming, diving, women’s softball, tennis, bowling, croquet, volleyball, running, water polo, and golf. Other sports tentatively scheduled include darts, soccer, track and field, rugby, martial arts, women’s basketball, and flag football. The 1989 Northwest Gay and Lesbian Sports ay and lesbian athletes from around the Festival occurs just 13 months before Gay country and the world will gather in Games III is scheduled to occur in Vancouver. Seattle this summer for a multi-sport extrava BC, Canada. Seattle is just a short hop from ganza that will serve as a tune-up for Gay Vancouver, and Festival organizers have Games III in 1990. The 1989 Northwest Gay and worked closely with Game officials to help Lesbian Sports Festival, offering opportunities promote the Gay Games. in at least ten sports, is scheduled for the July Team Seattle, organizers of the Festival, 1-4 holiday weekend. plans several Festival-wide events during the The Northwest Gay and Lesbian Sports course of the weekend. Festival is the second largest multi-sport event Entry forms for Sports Festival events will be for lesbian and gay athletes. Only Gay Games available in March. Information about the 1989 attracts more athletes. In 1987, the Festival’s Northwest Gay and Lesbian Sports Festival or first year, 900 athletes participated. By 1988. the entries for events can be obtained by writing to: number had increased to 1200. Team Seattle, 1206 E. Pike St., Ste. 1505, Seventy percent of the participants are from Seattle, WA 98122, or by calling out of state. This year, competition is scheduled (206) 322-2777. Northwest Gay and Lesbian Sports Festival dates set G