In January, I wrote a story African American Women with HIV/AIDS Are Not Seen on TV because I felt that Black women are virtually ignored by mainstream media in general.  Just look at TV shows on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox; blockbuster films; and TV commercials. They are NOT there.

Anyway, I received a press release from Carol Ash, 5 a.m. Producer on NBC 5 – Chicago, about the “Color of AIDS” Campaign that is taking place between February 7 – February 12, 2010.  Two of the journalists quoted confirmed what I shared in my story:

According to Chris Pena, Assistant News Director:
“We are excited about this opportunity to shed light on an issue that is often overlooked, but affects such a large number of people in our community.”

Zoraida Sambolin, NBC-5 news anchor observed:
“This is something many people don’t talk about.  HIV/AIDS does not get the attention it used to and it certainly isn’t covered in communities of color….”

Even though the two news people were referring to people of color in general, the fact that African American women account for over 50% of the newly reported HIV/AIDS cases needs to be publicized more.  Their health should be as important as the next person’s.

Maybe this is an assignment: to make sure African Americans with HIV/AIDS are seen on TV.

Every 6 seconds one person, or ten people per minute,  is infected with HIV/AIDS.  Unfortunately, most of these people are black women  in the United States.

According to the Center for Disease control, African American women account for over 50% of  the newly reported HIV/AIDS cases.  In fact, twelve percent of the entire population is comprised of black people, yet they have disproportionately  higher AIDS/HIV rates.

You’re probably wondering: what does this have to do with media? It means that African Americans, particularly women, with HIV/AIDS are NOT Seen on TV.

When HIV/AIDS was thought to be a gay white male disease in the 80s, there was a huge uproar with new reports and free flowing information from ALL media sources.  It wasn’t just because the disease was new, although that certainly had an impact.  I really don’t think it had a lot to do with the fact that the persons infected were gay.  I do believe that because the group affected were white men, all hell broke lose.  Now that African Americans are the fastest growing population of the epidemic, it seems to be swept under the rug.

The whys of the increase do not matter, neither do the hows.  What really matters in this case is the who.

I have seen posters, some magazines, and other ads with the colorful faces, but for some reason, this topic just doesn’t seem to be important enough to be flashed across TV screens at the rate at which it  should be shown.  I mean, we are still hearing about Tiger Woods’ mistake even though he said he needed a break to get things together.

So, why are we not hearing anything about this epidemic that is killing Black women at lightening speeds. Would the level of apathy be the same if the infected population was white?

Why do you think Black Women with HIV/AIDS are not seen on TV?

Check out this video to find out who controls mainstream media. This message would never be seen on TV, but you saw it here on AS NOT Seen on TV.