Initial events and trends in the discussion of HIV and AIDS in mass media contributed to the stigma and discrimination against those affected with the disease. Later discussion, sometimes led by HIV+ individuals themselves, moved toward advocacy and education on disease prevention and management. The UNESCO report on Journalism Education says, "Well researched television content can create public awareness about HIV prevention, treatment, care and support can potentially influence the development and implementation of relevant policies."

The condition which was later to be called AIDS was first noticed in June 1981 when the Centers for Disease Control reported that five gay men in Los Angeles all died from a similar rare set of disease symptoms. Within two months 100 more gay men had died, and there was public awareness from medical publication that some new disease existed. Most media outlets have shown the tendency to universalize by emphasizing the risk to an entire age group, sex or sexual orientation as opposed to the behaviors and characteristics of individuals which pose the greater risk.Schwartz Joel;Murray David. "Aids and the Media". Public Interest 125, 1996, p.57. How and when various media outlets throughout the world published this information varies, as has subsequent and contemporary reporting and depiction of HIV and AIDS in the media.

Many artists and AIDS activists such as Larry Kramer, Diamanda Galás and Rosa von Praunheim campaign for AIDS education and the rights of those affected. These artists worked with various media formats.

Media figures known for presenting HIV/AIDS issues

Worldwide and historically, public figures have often led trends in reporting HIV/AIDS issues.

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson was a high-profile Hollywood actor who died of AIDS-related complications on October 2, 1985.

Earlier that year the AIDS Project Los Angeles began arranging a benefit called the Commitment to Life dinner which had the goal of raising $1 million to fund a cure for AIDS. Originally the event had been scheduled in the small Century Plaza Hotel ballroom, but in July 1985 Hudson announced that he had AIDS and endorsed the event, greatly increasing the notoriety of the event and necessitating a change in venue to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. On September 19, 1985, many top Hollywood personalities including Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley attended the event, with performances by Carol Burnett, Sammy Davis Jr., Rod Stewart, Cyndi Lauper, Diahann Carroll and others.

Magic Johnson American basketball player Magic Johnson's announcement that he had HIV resulted in a surge of Americans getting tested for HIV. A national conversation began when millions of people who had previously considered AIDS to be outside of their concern suddenly regarded the disease as a threat because a healthy male and public idol had contracted the infection.

Pedro Zamora Pedro Zamora was a Cuban American gay male who contracted HIV as a teenager, became an HIV activist, was a feature of MTV's television show The Real World, then died of AIDS at age 22 in 1994. He is notable as being a major public figure who contracted HIV and whose everyday life was well-documented in mass media. In 1993 he testified to the United States Congress on his experience, and stated that "If you want to reach me as a young gay man—especially a young gay man of color—then you need to give me information in a language and vocabulary I can understand and relate to." He is credited as being a particularly effective spokesperson for raising awareness about HIV in the Latino community.

Princess Diana Diana Frances Spencer, Princess of Wales, who died on August 31, 1997, was a supporter of raising awareness on AIDS, and breaking the belief that AIDS can be shared by touch.

Princess Diana opened up the United Kingdom's first AIDS ward, which is located at the London Middlesex Hospital, during the spring of 1987.

In 1991, a photograph was printed which showed Princess Diana shaking hands with an AIDS patient in the Casey House—a resident hall for patients with AIDS. In the photograph, it's seen that Diana was not wearing gloves while she was shaking hands with the AIDS patient.

Themes in media depictions Some identified themes which repeatedly appear in media depicting HIV are the concept of "other", victim blaming, heterosexism, and comparisons of the lifestyles of people in urban areas versus rural areas.

Other In media with a theme of the "other" there is some depiction of a dichotomy. The divide in stories depicting AIDS is often HIV-positive people versus people without HIV, persons at high risk for contracting HIV versus people with low risk, innocent victims of HIV versus people shown to have guilt, and the general concept of contamination in blood versus pure blood., citing In all of these cases, movies dealing with AIDS-related subject matter frequently portray one side of the dichotomy as good and the other as evil.

Victim blaming Movies with a theme of "victim blaming" often portray people living with AIDS as being guilty or culpable for contracting HIV. In such themes, persons with HIV often threaten the health of innocent people.

Heterosexism The United States news media associated AIDS with gay men beginning in 1982 despite the CDC at that time having regularly revealed that other populations also were contracting the infection causing AIDS., citing which was published in part as By 1983 nearly all media about gay men was in the context of delivering AIDS stories., citing Movies which feature HIV as a theme frequently depict a gay male as the central character with AIDS. Media depiction of AIDS as a gay male disease is problematic because it fails to promote public understanding of the impact of AIDS on the diverse populations which AIDS affects., citing

Urban versus rural Representations of AIDS in media may make a comparison between urban and rural areas. In such portrayals, the city may be portrayed as a place for gay community and the spread of AIDS while the rural areas represent morality, conservationism, and freedom from harmful deviancy.

Role of new media Previously, limited information stemmed from a handful of authoritative sources. For HIV/AIDS, the new media brings about opportunities as well as challenges. "There is potential for these changes to bring greater pluralism, access to information, democratization and responsiveness to consumers' needs." However, "these changes also bring a highly advertising-driven and commercial media, prone to sensationalism and often highly sexualized."

Notable depiction

Films Buddies (1985) – first independent film to depict the AIDS epidemic An Early Frost (1985) – first network film to depict the AIDS epidemic Longtime Companion(1989) - which deals with the AIDS crisis from the first NY Times article to the end of the decade, through the eyes of a group of friends slowly shrinking due to the disease. The title comes from the way newspapers then depicted survvivors of Gay peoples' deaths. Silence = Death and Positive – two award-winning documentaries by Rosa von Praunheim, both were released in 1990 Philadelphia (1993) – award-winning film that tells the story of gay man Andrew Beckett who asks lawyer Joe Miller to help him sue his employers, who fired him after discovering he has AIDS. It is notable for being one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to explicitly address HIV/AIDS and homophobia. To Touch the Soul (2007) – a documentary film about Californian students who use visual arts to help Cambodian children affected by HIV/AIDS express their wishes and desires. Dallas Buyers Club (2013) – a film based on the real life story of Ron Woodroof, a Dallas man who contracted HIV and then founded the title club to sell Non-FDA approved anti-viral drugs. It was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, with Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto winning Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.last=Vallée |first=Jean-Marc|title=Dallas Buyers Club |date=2013-11-9 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790636/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_4_nm_4_in_0_q_dallas%2520bu/ The Normal Heart (2014) – depicts the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City between 1981 and 1984, as seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks, the founder of a prominent HIV advocacy group, the Gay Men's Health Crisis.

TV Angels in America (2003) award-winning HBO miniseries based on Tony Kushner's play of the same name, that depicts New York during the AIDS epidemic in 1985 Canadian teen drama Degrassi High notably depicts school bully Dwayne Myers testing positive for HIV. He mends his antagonistic relationship with Joey Jeremiah when the latter agrees to keep his secret, but eventually makes it public, causing his friends and most of the students at Degrassi to stay away with him, including at the school dance. His female friend however has a change of heart after being explained how AIDS is transmitted. After Jeremiah finds him standing in the bathroom at the dance, he encourages Dwayne to get out there, where his female friend asks him to dance. It's a Sin (2021) - a group of friends find opportunity, acceptance and love in '80s London. Then the HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeps the country and devastates their circle.

Performing Arts

Angels in America (1991), Pulitzer Prize-awarded play by Tony Kushner RENT (1996), Pulitzer Prize-awarded musical by Jonathan Larson

Cartoons Andy Lippincott's death from AIDS in the comic strip Doonesbury on May 24, 1990, ran on the obituary page of The San Francisco Chronicle, and Andy also received a square in the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Poetry "A Quilt For David" (2021) by Steven Reigns reassesses the story of David J. Acer, the Florida dentist accused of deliberately infecting six of his patients with HIV in 1990. Reigns challenges the media depiction at the time of Acer as a "modern Dracula".

By region

Africa

Kenya In 1990 the director of the Kenya Medical Research Institute announced that with a drug called Kemron he had cured many AIDS patients of HIV. Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi supported this claim whereupon the research received international scrutiny and was determined by all experts to be without merit.

South Africa South Africa boasts a highly developed mass media communications infrastructure. There are five open broadcast commercial television stations, 38 commercial radio stations, 70 community radio stations, 16 daily commercial news papers, one bi-weekly newspaper, 25 weekly newspapers, and several smaller circulation titles.Shisana, Olive, and Leickness Chisamu Simbayi. 2002. Nelson Mandela/HSRC Study of HIV/AIDS: South African National HIV Prevalence, Behavioural Risks and Mass Media : Household Survey 2002. HSRC Press. Even so, "Years of state denial in South Africa resulted in poor national understanding of HIV and the urgent need to increase public engagement with health research, and encourage behaviour that reduces transmission and supports the uptake of relevant health interventions." The areas that are the least represented in the media include prevention, care, and stigma reduction.Treffry-Goatley, Astrid, Mduduzi Mahlinza, and John Imrie. 2013. "Public Engagement with HIV in a Rural South African Context: An Analysis of a Small-Media, Taxi-Based Edutainment Model Applied in Jiving with Science." Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies 27 (1) (February): 112–126.