Not only did walking the streets of D.C. affect my decision, so did the media. When told that I was registered in this class, I researched the Internet for AIDS in my area. I first Googled “Washington D.C.: AIDS” which led me straight to the sight that had big bold letters saying “Washington, D.C., Has Higher AIDS Incidence Rate Than Baltimore, San Francisco, New York” [3]. Not only was the headline shocking enough, but the article also told me that every seven seconds a person contracts AIDS and every eleven seconds another person dies from AIDS.
From the media, my perception of AIDS in Washington D.C. was very skewed. From reading the local newspaper, The Washington Post, I began to believe that AIDS was only a problem in Africa. Instead of saying how high that AIDS rates were, they thought it was more important to talk about what politicians were voting for government funds for AIDS.
When I began to research for this paper, I first went onto www.washingtonpost.com and typed in [AIDS]. Most if not all were about the political support for HIV along with tuberculosis and hepatitis C. Then, I went on to lexis nexis and found articles that gave data and statistics. One article in particular “How to Turn the Corner on AIDS” [1] gave data that helped me develop my view on AIDS.
Most of the articles I found from Washington Post were in fact found in the first section of the newspaper, the A section. Yet 90% of the articles were solely about AIDS in different parts of the world, especially Africa. You would think that in an area like Washington D.C. where 1. it is one of the most powerful and influential areas in the world and 2. Has an AIDS rate that is ten times higher than most parts of the nation cannot talk about their own problem? The U.S. is taking over countries and telling them how to run their government and yet we cannot even face the facts and realize that we are not perfect and need help.