Young People’s Perception of HIV/ AIDS Campaign in South-West Nigeria
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Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Malaysian Journal of Media Studies
Abstract
Since global attention was drawn to the identification and spread of HIV/AIDS in
1983, the media has been used as the primary vehicle for both formal and informal
messages on the dreaded infection. However, limited studies have explored the
perception of the targeted audience on HIV/AIDS campaigns. As a result, this
audience research have been used to explore the perception of young people
towards HIV/AIDS messages. An in-depth interview was conducted among 31
young people who were divided into two main categories. The first category were
HIV positive patients from the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State,while
the second category were HIV negative students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic,
Abeokuta, Ogun State. Uniquely, the study revealed that the majority of young
people have negative perceptions on HIV messages that they were exposed to. Both
categories of informants argued that campaign planners never involved them in the
conceptualisation of the HIV/AIDS messages. They also complained that they were
stereotyped by the portrayal of HIV/AIDS as a youth disease and in-like manner that
the HIV/AIDS campaigns lack creativity and up-to-date information. Furthermore,
the HIV positive informants vehemently complained about the negative stereotype
that the mass media gave the general populace about the infection. Hence, this study
concluded that in order for HIV/AIDS preventive communication campaign to be
effective, there is an urgent need for campaign planners to improve and incorporate
these negative perceptions in the concept of future HIV/AIDS campaigns in Nigeria.
Description
Keywords
HIV/AIDS, campaigns, young people, perception, mass media