PROGRAMME LAUNCHED TO ADDRESS

The Southern African Editors Forum (SAEF) and twelve organisations last week launched the Southern African Media Action Plan on HIV/AIDS & Gender (MAP).MAP is a three-year programme that brings together a unique partnership between the media industry, civil society and the international community that aims to improve the quality of media reporting on HIV/AIDS & gender and to mitigate the impact of the epidemic on the media industry in Southern Africa.It aims to achieve this through supporting media organisations in developing workplace based policies and programmes; setting standards for media reporting on HIV/AIDS & gender; training for editors and journalists on reporting on HIV/AIDS & gender and ensuring that the media have access to accurate and reliable information on the epidemic.”For too long the media in Southern Africa have turned its lens on how others are responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic while being complacent about its own actions. MAP turns the lens back onto the media industry and asks it to make the promise in responding to the AIDS epidemic and to ensure that gender is mainstreamed into reporting”, said Rob Jamieson, chairperson of the Southern African Editors Forum.