XXXX and journalism. The old but bigger question of ethics.

@entity791 @entity645
The first @entity791 case in Uganda was diagnosed in 1981, but as of June 1984, a cumulative total of 43,875 clinical @entity791 cases had been reported. 1.5 million individuals out of a total population of 15 million are estimated to be living with @entity645 in the country. The majority of infected individuals are aged 15-49 years, in their most economically productive years. Local journalism over the past ten years has done well to highlight the problem, raising awareness to levels higher than in many other parts of Africa. Journalists should, however, go beyond their denotative role of collecting and disseminating information in an unbiased fashion, and attempt to sway sexual behavior in a direction which minimizes the risk of @entity645 transmission. Specifically, 98% of @entity645 transmission in Uganda is the result of unprotected sexual intercourse between male and female heterosexuals. Unprotected sexual intercourse between @entity645 -discordant partners must cease. The political leadership, however, remains embroiled in sexual scandal. The masses are privy to such scandal through the press and will certainly not modify their sexual behavior if the elite fail to do so. Journalists and journalism should therefore move away from simply reporting the facts and instead openly challenge political leaders to adopt more responsible sexual lifestyles.
