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Press Freedom Saves Lives
The media helped lower HIV rates in Europe in the 1980s and could play a similar role in Africa today. Speaking to the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum to mark World Press Freedom Day, Bono argues that press freedom saves lives.
"AIDS is the worst pandemic in 600 years. People need to know about it to avoid becoming one of the statistics," he says. "The media is our messenger, a modern-day town-crier. China is an example of what happens when there is a conspiracy of silence through censorship. HIV spread like wildfire through certain regions because no-one knew about it. A million people with HIV, and only now it gets in the national papers."
Below we carry some highlights of the interview which WAN and the WEF are distributing through www.worldpressfreedomday.org, along with interviews with other world figures for publication by newspapers world-wide on or around this week's World Press Freedom Day.
WAN: Coming from a Western democracy, at what point in your life did you become aware that press freedom wasn't a standard right found in all societies?
BONO: I think I always knew that press freedom wasn't a given in most places, but the time it really came home to me was during the break up of Bosnia and the siege of Sarejevo. So many journalists lost their lives by design not by accident with a stray bullet or shrapnel. Journalists were targeted, bounties put on their head to send a signal to their editors and indeed, families, that this story was too dangerous to cover. Even war criminals were now media savvy and saw the media in general as another kind of front line.
WAN: Why is press freedom essential when talking about subjects such as HIV/AIDS?
BONO: AIDS is the worst pandemic in 600 years. People need to know about it to avoid becoming one of the statistics. Even in the poorest places I've been to, someone, somewhere has access to a radio. The media is our messenger, a modern-day town-crier. China is an example of what happens when there is a conspiracy of silence through censorship. HIV spread like wildfire through certain regions because no one knew about it. A million people with HIV, and only now it gets in the national papers.
The media need to be telling the truth about what's going on. Exposing the myths, like the one in Southern Africa where men believe that sex with virgins will cure them of HIV.
But the press have a much greater role than educating individuals about their own risk. We need a global response to AIDS that matches the scale of the crisis, including the funds to pay for it. Experts think we need about $15bn a year to fight AIDS. We're only one-third of the way there, and while we're moving in the right direction, our pace is far too slow.
WAN: Can you give an example of how countries with a greater degree of press freedom are more successful in promoting awareness about HIV/AIDS and retarding the spread of the disease?
BONO: In the 1980s, when AIDS was discovered in Europe and America, it started hitting the headlines. There were some very dramatic awareness campaigns funded by governments which the press took to the public. The basic message: sex without a condom isn't worth it. Condom sales shot up and HIV rates went down. Brazil would be another example. Uganda is interesting, because the press there does face censorship, but HIV rates have dropped dramatically, from 15% to 5%. President Museveni made fighting AIDS a government priority, and the media was used as a tool to implement it. That's not an argument for state-controlled media -- which is in the interest of the state, but totally against the interests of the people it is supposed to serve -- but it shows the importance of political leadership when it comes to fighting AIDS.
WAN: You tend to draw upon personal stories rather than relying purely on statistics when bringing attention to HIV/AIDS. Why have you chosen this approach?
BONO: People say the facts speak for themselves, but they don't. If you throw out a load of huge numbers, people glaze over, including me. To engage people, you have to bring the statistics of death to life. The fact that prevalence rates have stabilized at 20 percent in Zambia doesn't mean much to anyone. But if you explain that for want of a couple of 50 cent injections, a young pregnant mother is giving HIV to her baby during birth when the only thing she wants for her child is the gift of life -- that hits home. There's a hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi, our party visited where people were literally queuing up to die of AIDS in an orderly fashion, to lie down three to a bed, two on top and one underneath. Words cannot describe this sight...God's creation, rid of all dignity. And yet, this is some mother's son, some son's mother and you know that but for an accident of geography if you were HIV positive, this would be you...everyone can understand that feeling.
WAN: How can this approach in turn be adopted by newspapers to help raise awareness and educate people on the disease?
BONO: As I say, good journalists make statistics get up and walk and talk. In the age of communication I have a microphone, the press have a megaphone...We need to get these people's stories out there, not just the sob stories, but also the success stories, the ones that never get told. I've met people from South Africa to Ethiopia doing extraordinary things, living proof that with the right support, AIDS does not have to be a death sentence. The view that AIDS is hopeless is part of the problem. The media need to challenge the stigma associated with it. Why would a person go and get tested if all they get given is a badge of shame? HIV is a virus, not an open invitation to judgement, but in too many places, rich and poor, that's what it has become.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 101 countries, 13 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. More on WAN and details of the whole interview with Bono here www.wan-press.org
The media helped lower HIV rates in Europe in the 1980s and could play a similar role in Africa today. Speaking to the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum to mark World Press Freedom Day, Bono argues that press freedom saves lives.
"AIDS is the worst pandemic in 600 years. People need to know about it to avoid becoming one of the statistics," he says. "The media is our messenger, a modern-day town-crier. China is an example of what happens when there is a conspiracy of silence through censorship. HIV spread like wildfire through certain regions because no-one knew about it. A million people with HIV, and only now it gets in the national papers."
Below we carry some highlights of the interview which WAN and the WEF are distributing through www.worldpressfreedomday.org, along with interviews with other world figures for publication by newspapers world-wide on or around this week's World Press Freedom Day.
WAN: Coming from a Western democracy, at what point in your life did you become aware that press freedom wasn't a standard right found in all societies?
BONO: I think I always knew that press freedom wasn't a given in most places, but the time it really came home to me was during the break up of Bosnia and the siege of Sarejevo. So many journalists lost their lives by design not by accident with a stray bullet or shrapnel. Journalists were targeted, bounties put on their head to send a signal to their editors and indeed, families, that this story was too dangerous to cover. Even war criminals were now media savvy and saw the media in general as another kind of front line.
WAN: Why is press freedom essential when talking about subjects such as HIV/AIDS?
BONO: AIDS is the worst pandemic in 600 years. People need to know about it to avoid becoming one of the statistics. Even in the poorest places I've been to, someone, somewhere has access to a radio. The media is our messenger, a modern-day town-crier. China is an example of what happens when there is a conspiracy of silence through censorship. HIV spread like wildfire through certain regions because no one knew about it. A million people with HIV, and only now it gets in the national papers.
The media need to be telling the truth about what's going on. Exposing the myths, like the one in Southern Africa where men believe that sex with virgins will cure them of HIV.
But the press have a much greater role than educating individuals about their own risk. We need a global response to AIDS that matches the scale of the crisis, including the funds to pay for it. Experts think we need about $15bn a year to fight AIDS. We're only one-third of the way there, and while we're moving in the right direction, our pace is far too slow.
WAN: Can you give an example of how countries with a greater degree of press freedom are more successful in promoting awareness about HIV/AIDS and retarding the spread of the disease?
BONO: In the 1980s, when AIDS was discovered in Europe and America, it started hitting the headlines. There were some very dramatic awareness campaigns funded by governments which the press took to the public. The basic message: sex without a condom isn't worth it. Condom sales shot up and HIV rates went down. Brazil would be another example. Uganda is interesting, because the press there does face censorship, but HIV rates have dropped dramatically, from 15% to 5%. President Museveni made fighting AIDS a government priority, and the media was used as a tool to implement it. That's not an argument for state-controlled media -- which is in the interest of the state, but totally against the interests of the people it is supposed to serve -- but it shows the importance of political leadership when it comes to fighting AIDS.
WAN: You tend to draw upon personal stories rather than relying purely on statistics when bringing attention to HIV/AIDS. Why have you chosen this approach?
BONO: People say the facts speak for themselves, but they don't. If you throw out a load of huge numbers, people glaze over, including me. To engage people, you have to bring the statistics of death to life. The fact that prevalence rates have stabilized at 20 percent in Zambia doesn't mean much to anyone. But if you explain that for want of a couple of 50 cent injections, a young pregnant mother is giving HIV to her baby during birth when the only thing she wants for her child is the gift of life -- that hits home. There's a hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi, our party visited where people were literally queuing up to die of AIDS in an orderly fashion, to lie down three to a bed, two on top and one underneath. Words cannot describe this sight...God's creation, rid of all dignity. And yet, this is some mother's son, some son's mother and you know that but for an accident of geography if you were HIV positive, this would be you...everyone can understand that feeling.
WAN: How can this approach in turn be adopted by newspapers to help raise awareness and educate people on the disease?
BONO: As I say, good journalists make statistics get up and walk and talk. In the age of communication I have a microphone, the press have a megaphone...We need to get these people's stories out there, not just the sob stories, but also the success stories, the ones that never get told. I've met people from South Africa to Ethiopia doing extraordinary things, living proof that with the right support, AIDS does not have to be a death sentence. The view that AIDS is hopeless is part of the problem. The media need to challenge the stigma associated with it. Why would a person go and get tested if all they get given is a badge of shame? HIV is a virus, not an open invitation to judgement, but in too many places, rich and poor, that's what it has become.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 101 countries, 13 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. More on WAN and details of the whole interview with Bono here www.wan-press.org
It's amazing this was allowed to happen. Wonder if he ever feels like he is helping cleaning up someone elses mess. I wouldn't want anyone else to do it but him, he doesn't give up.
