AIDS in the Media Before Late 1990's

In order to figure out why I associated AIDS with the impoverished countries of Africa and Asia, as opposed to my own country or state, I searched articles printed in local papers (or papers that were read in my community, such as the New York Times) for references to HIV or AIDS. What I found went far to explain where my beliefs had originated. In total, I read 37 articles. Only 8 of which were written about AIDS as a problem for Connecticut after 1995.

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Prior to 1995, and during the heyday of the AIDS epidemic, there were a variety of stories written in both local and national papers about the rising costs of AIDS care in Connecticut, the increasing rate of infected persons, and the spread of paranoia regarding infection. One such article, written in 1989 in the New York Times, reported that “the number of cases in Bridgeport [a large Connecticut city] increased 86.6 percent in 1988” (New York Times Jan. 13, 1989)

After 1990s Local AIDS Stories Drop Off ...

Replaced by Global AIDS coverage and Announcements of Advances in Drug Therapy

After 1995, however, and the advent of HAART drug therapy and advances in HIV testing, the number of articles discussing AIDS in Connecticut drastically decreased. There was not one single article written about AIDS printed in the three local papers surrounding my town (ie, The Weston Forum, The Westport Minuteman, and the Norwalk Hour).

    Those articles written by larger papers, like the New Haven Register and the Hartford Courant, were commonly about advances in drug therapy or problems with legislation. Rather than alerting the reader to the threat of AIDS, these articles communicated the message that the virus was under control.

Articles about AIDS in Connecticut, however, were rare. The majority of stories published in major Connecticut papers or the New York Times, described the plight of AIDS in countries like Cambodia, Libya, China, and Thailand. These articles made it seem to me, and other readers, that the problem of AIDS was an Africa or Asian problem. AIDS/HIV ravaged third-world countries, maybe even cities with large gay populations or a high percentage of intravenous drug users, but at home, in Connecticut, we were safe.