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Although the overall volume of reporting on HIV/AIDS has been slowly increasing during the past 2 years, densely packed coverage around annual events and specific moments of controversy can lead to unequal reporting on certain topics and may not be the most effective way of facilitating the uptake of HIV/Aids information. For example, it appears that charges laid against Jacob Zuma for the alleged rape of an HIV/Aids activist in December 2005 pushed the coverage of World Aids Day in 2005 a little higher than might have been expected, based on the previous year's increase. Another spike occurred in April 2006, which is attributable to his controversial 'cold shower' statement during his court case. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's rebuttal in Toronto in August and subsequent calls for her resignation by the Treatment Action Campaign affected the volumes in September and TAC's violent demands in Cape Town for free anti-retroviral drugs for prisoners also contributed to the high peaks in HIV/Aids coverage in the August-September 2006 period.

According to managing director of Media Tenor, Wadim Schreiner, the question must therefore be asked whether the cyclical nature of reporting (linked to annual events) and incidental reporting (brief spikes linked to controversial figures) lend themselves to the effective dissemination and eventual uptake of information. "Retention of information is dependent on the frequency of an audience's exposure to a subject, as well as the attention they pay it. It is the former factor that the media can most influence; however, taking into account the overall low coverage that is given to HIV/Aids, it seems the leading SA media are not playing an active enough part in mainstreaming the issue to eventually effect attitude changes," says Schreiner.

The main topics discussed in relation to HIV/Aids in the period from October 2004 – September 2006 were the socio-political effects of the disease (23% of all coverage on HIV/AIDS), prevention (22%), treatment (21%), economic effects (3%) and causes of the disease (3%). Socio-political effects received the most negative coverage of all HIV/AIDS related issues, while media on the other hand showed the most optimism in relation to the prevention of the disease.

For the details of the research please refer to the PDF file.