Saying that “we have been silent for too long,” a group of African-American newspaper publishers have enlisted the support of Black colleges and churches as they prepare to wage a war against HIV/AIDS using their own media outlets to inform readers, advocate for prevention, and hopefully save lives.
By next January, the publishers of more than 50 Black newspapers, most of them weeklies, in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi say they plan to start regularly carrying advertising, running columns, publishing news stories, and posting video on their official websites that address the AIDS crisis and what their readers can do to protect themselves against the disease.
The region these papers represent—the southeast—is where more than 41 percent of those living with AIDS in the United States reside and where the highest number of new AIDS cases is reported, a 2010 report from the Southern AIDS Coalition found.
Meharry Medical College, NIMHD/Health Disparities Research Center in Nashville, Tenn., was the co-sponsor of the annual meeting of publishers and owners, representing the southeast region of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA). Their annual meeting in Orlando, 17-18 November, was devoted to education about HIV/AIDS and the escalation in rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The Southeast Region Publishers’ HIV/AIDS Awareness Conference: Caring for Communities of Color brought together more than 80 Black college students and their advisers, HIV/AIDS scientists, faculty, clergy and members of the Black Press to heighten awareness and begin a dialogue around a disease that’s now in its 30th year.
“We are committed to telling these stories and educating our communities,” said the Rev. Dr. R.B. Holmes Jr., president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Southeast Region and publisher of the Capital Outlook in Tallahassee, Fla.
“The strategy for our papers is going to be to write about it (HIV/AIDS), tweet about it, blog about it, teach it, and preach it. No longer will the Black Press be silent when it comes to HIV/AIDS,” Holmes added.
About a dozen HBCUs were in attendance. During the conference, the publishers also began discussions about extending NNPA membership to Black college newspapers.
