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This project is co-funded by the European Union and DFID India |
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TELEVISION TRAINING WORKSHOP
" IMAGING HIV - AIDS "
CONCLUDED
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BACKGROUNDER
FOR
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
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HIV / AIDS AND THE MEDIA
People living with HIV / AIDS often say that headlines and stories
about AIDS in the media are scary and sensational. Studies also
show that language and approach in the media have contributed to
further stereotyping and stigmatization of already marginalized
groups. These are the feelings at the core of the aims and objectives
of the EU-India ECCP "MEDIAIDS" project entitled: "Ethics
and Stereotypes:
Towards an European - India Media Response to HIV / AIDS".
The basic question is: How can the medium of television be utilized
to address, inform and educate audiences about HIV / AIDS without
alarming or scaring them?
None of the issues related to HIV / AIDS can be neglected, bypassed
or avoided. Whether it is:
- sexual transmission
- drug use
- isolation
- rejection by the family
- loss of job
- divorce
- humiliation within the health care system
- denial of admission to school
- secrecy and ignorance leading to death
These issues are the context in which the EU-India ECCP project has
been formulated.
HIV SCENARIO IN INDIA
While the overall prevalence of HIV in India is below 1%, with its
huge population size, the country faces an epidemic of large numbers.
The spread of HIV in India has increased from an estimated 1.75 million
adults in 1994 to over 5 million by 2005. Nearly 80% of these cases
are in the six states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Karnataka, Manipur and Nagaland.
There are indicators that the epidemic may have stabilized in the
high-prevalence states. This is based on data that HIV occurrence
among pregnant women remained constant for three years until 2004.
At the same time, surveillance data reveals new indicators of the
epidemic. It is moving from urban areas to rural districts and towards
women and young people.
Migration among the economically productive sections of society is
common. Over 250 million Indians move from one location to another.
India also has a large number of truck-drivers and their helpers,
ranging from estimates of two to five million people. These mobile
groups, who traverse across one of the largest road networks in the
world, are considered high-risk carriers of HIV / AIDS infection .
The alarming increase of HIV infection in Manipur City from around
60% to nearly 85% in just three years is largely linked to injecting
drug use. The metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai
also face a major problem of injecting drug use.
The situations and behaviour patterns in such groups increases the
vulnerability and risk of HIV / AIDS. Until now, AIDS remains an incurable
disease, although medical advances have enabled it to be a manageable
chronic illness. All those who are infected or are potentially at
risk of infection, face this harsh reality.
Ofcourse, today, if a person is well cared for, HIV / AIDS patients
can live with a fair quality of life for a number of years and even
work. Equally, a person may live for years after infection without
any symptoms or sickness, while they unknowingly transmit the infection
to others.
In this context, we cannot forget that the maximum infections are
in the continents of Africa and Asia, and in groups that have limited
or no access to dependable health care systems.
THE PROJECT
In the first year of the two-year EU-India ECCP project, "MEDIAIDS"
will:
1.
Work with 12 participants chosen through this open call. Six participants
will be from India and six from Europe. Together with experts, the
participants will develop prototypes of PSA, news story and news feature
formats that are suitable for regional and international telecast.
A total of six media products are to be completed by the end of the
second and final two-week workshop.
2.
Invite proposals for three 26-minute documentaries in collaboration
with the Public Service Broadcasting trust (PSBT). Apart from a national
telecast in India, these documentaries are also targeted for international
viewing, distribution and film festivals. The documentaries will be
mentored by commissioning editors, senior documentary film-makers
and HIV experts. The aim is to incorporate an India perspective to
HIV / AIDS in films that can compete for credibility, technique and
story-telling at the international level. The three films should work
as stand-alone documentaries as well a trilogy. For this reason, the
final choice of proposals will specifically be looking at non-repetitiveness
in content.
See Annex 1 for the Terms of Reference and Application Form for individuals
wishing to apply for the two television training workshops.
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TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR
PARTICIPANTS
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Reasoning for Criteria:
- A specific framework of terms of reference is necessary to target
on a focused group of participants who can make the workshops
successful.
- Creativity in content creation, basic technical knowledge with
working experience and sensitivity towards HIV / AIDS issues among
the participants is critical.
- Technical expertise is important in so far as that content creators
should be able to exploit the latest technologies equipped with
state-of-the-art knowledge
- Participants need to understand that the compulsions of the
present media scenario demand multi tasking and should be prepared
to function as independent single-person story-tellers.
The Criteria:
- TV Journalists, Film-makers, Creative Department professionals
in Advertising Agencies. Graduates with additional qualifications
in media related fields preferred.
- Three-to-five years experience in the electronic media. Working
on health issues in visual media and HIV / AIDS related work would
be an added advantage.
- Submission of sample of work including latest project is mandatory.
- Participants should submit the order of preference for the format
style they would like to work (30 second-to-one minute PSA, news
special, short feature)
- Reading, writing and speaking knowledge of English and one regional
language in India is essential.
- Two references are required: a professional recommendation from
a present / ex-employer and a personality testimonial from a respected
citizen of civil society
- Application is to be accompanied by include short views (250
- 500 words) on the following:
a) Perception about HIV / AIDS as an issue
b) Views about the role that Indian television and radio have
played / not played in addressing or resolving HIV /AIDS related
issues
c) Participant's conceptual and technical expectations from the
workshops
d) How the participant would utilize the workshop training in
future professional work
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- Download Application Form
- Online Application Form
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