Soffer Michal
School of Social Work, Faculty of Sociassl Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, 349883, Haifa, Israel.
Arch Sex Behav. 2021 Oct;50(7):2813-2823. doi: 10.1007/s10508-021-02061-1. Epub 2021 Sep 14.
HIV and AIDS are not merely biomedical conditions-they are socially constructed phenomena. Media coverage plays a prominent role in the public's understanding of HIV/AIDS. "Biomediatization" denotes the coproduction of HIV/AIDS by biomedicine and mass media. Nevertheless, despite the importance of the media in the social construction of HIV/AIDS, research on HIV/AIDS coverage in the Israeli media is negligible. This study examined the social construction of HIV/AIDS in Israel. The sample includes all items (88 texts and videos) published in three of the top news websites in a 1-year period that mentioned HIV or AIDS. Thematic analysis was employed. Three themes were identified. "The biomedicalization of HIV/AIDS" depicted HIV/AIDS as a one-faceted, biological phenomenon that concerns the body of the individual and is a public health issue. The second theme, "HIV/AIDS and stigma," consisted of subthemes: "acknowledging stigma" and "constructing stigma." In the former, the stigma ascribed to HIV/AIDS was acknowledged and discussed. The latter revealed various mechanisms employed by the media to construct and perpetuate HIV/AIDS stigma. The third theme we identified, "re-gaying HIV/AIDS," concerned the various venues through which HIV/AIDS is associated with gay men. The findings show that HIV/AIDS was depicted as a biomedical condition that concerns the individual. The implications of our study include a need to change the rhetoric of HIV/AIDS in the Israeli media such that it will address the complex issues of power and inequality that HIV/AIDS entails.
艾滋病毒和艾滋病不仅仅是生物医学状况——它们是社会建构的现象。媒体报道在公众对艾滋病毒/艾滋病的理解中起着重要作用。“生物媒介化”指的是生物医学和大众媒体对艾滋病毒/艾滋病的共同塑造。然而,尽管媒体在艾滋病毒/艾滋病的社会建构中很重要,但以色列媒体对艾滋病毒/艾滋病报道的研究却少之又少。本研究考察了以色列对艾滋病毒/艾滋病的社会建构。样本包括在一年时间内,三大顶级新闻网站上发布的所有提及艾滋病毒或艾滋病的内容(88篇文本和视频)。采用了主题分析法。确定了三个主题。“艾滋病毒/艾滋病的生物医学化”将艾滋病毒/艾滋病描绘成一种单一层面的生物现象,关乎个人身体,是一个公共卫生问题。第二个主题“艾滋病毒/艾滋病与污名”由子主题组成:“承认污名”和“建构污名”。在前者中,承认并讨论了赋予艾滋病毒/艾滋病的污名。后者揭示了媒体用来建构和延续艾滋病毒/艾滋病污名的各种机制。我们确定的第三个主题“艾滋病毒/艾滋病与同性恋关联”,涉及艾滋病毒/艾滋病与男同性恋者产生关联的各种途径。研究结果表明,艾滋病毒/艾滋病被描绘成一种关乎个人的生物医学状况。我们研究的意义包括需要改变以色列媒体对艾滋病毒/艾滋病的表述方式,以便其能解决艾滋病毒/艾滋病所涉及的权力和不平等的复杂问题。