AIDS in the Circle City
Media
However, just because I don’t have much exposure to the alarming rate of AIDS within the African American community, the editors at the Indianapolis Star were paying attention. In an editorial written in March of 2005, the editors of the Star broadcast facts and figures about the alarmingly high rate of HIV and AIDS among the African Americans not only in Indiana, but in the United States as well. It sounds like it would be a front page article, especially with a headline like “Blacks’ AIDS Rate Sounds Alarm.” However, it was buried in the back of the news section, all the way back on page A8 in the bottom left hand corner of the page.[1] The article, only 5 short paragraphs long, cites terrifying statistics about the alarmingly high rate of black men and women being infected every year. “Although blacks constitute about 8.4 percent of the state’s population, they accounted for between 42 and 45 percent of Indiana’s new AIDS and HIV cases last year.”[2]
One of the most interesting things about the epidemic among African Americans in the Indianapolis media is the amount of attention given to the epidemic in Africa. There are more than a handful of articles devoted to the tragic spread of AIDS in Africa and what people in Indianapolis, especially black groups, are doing to help the situation. Of some 105 articles written about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, over half (59) were devoted to the worldwide epidemic. While the rest (46) were devoted to either HIV/AIDS in Indiana or across the nation. Although there were a sizeable number written about the US, it seems that the focus is more on Africa and the world epidemic than on our own. In fact, on July 9, 2005, an article prominently featured on the City/State (now Metro) section of the paper called “Picturing Hope: ‘The Power of One’ Documents the Fight Against AIDS in Africa” is one of the biggest articles the Star has written about AIDS.[3]
The background of this website is also constructed from headlines gathered from the Indianapolis Star beginning in January of 2003 and ending in December of 2006. There is a wide array of headlines, from concern to calls to action to remembrances.
