With technical support and reference materials provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation, this partnership is fostering the professional development of broadcast and print journalists in an effort to increase public access to reliable information about HIV/AIDS. Through training courses that include presentations by government officials, public health advocates, clinical care providers, and people living with HIV/AIDS—as well as field work to conduct interviews with real people affected by the epidemic—reporters have direct access to critical information.

Challenges
With more than 16 percent of the adult population infected with HIV, Zambia is in the midst of a full-blown and mature AIDS epidemic. Despite the fact that HIV/AIDS has had an effect on virtually every aspect of life in this country of 11.3 million people, most media outlets are not providing adequate coverage of the epidemic and its impact on individuals, businesses, communities, and the country as a whole.

There are very few education and training opportunities for journalists in Zambia. Organizations that support professional development in the field are equally hard to find—particularly in the sub-specialty of HIV/AIDS reporting, which is a subject that demands both accuracy and sensitivity. For potentially life-saving information to make its way to the people who need it most, reporters must be given the tools they need to develop stories that can raise public awareness of key issues.

Capacity Building Targets
With the overall goal of improving the quality and quantity of mass media coverage about Zambia’s HIV/AIDS epidemic, the partnership’s objectives are to:
• strengthen the operational and managerial capacity of the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication Educational Trust;
• strengthen the professional capacity of a core group of Zambian journalists representing a variety of media outlets in both rural and urban communities throughout the country;
• link journalists to a broad-based network of policymakers, healthcare providers, public health advocates, and people living with HIV/AIDS who can provide accurate, timely information about the epidemic and serve as resources for ongoing media coverage; and
• increase public awareness about HIV/AIDS through the publication or broadcast of high-quality, informative news reports and features.

Accomplishments to Date
• Two initial training courses, including field work, were conducted in July-August 2005. Through these two-week courses, a total of 60 journalists from various regions of Zambia took part in professional skills-building sessions, attended presentations about Zambia’s HIV/AIDS epidemic conducted by local and national experts, and traveled to high-burden communities to interview people living with HIV/AIDS or those affected by the virus.
• Since August 2005, workshop participants have produced some 100 stories that have already been broadcast on radio and television channels throughout the country and have had more than 30 articles published in newspapers and magazines.
• In December 2005, two journalists who participated in the training courses were presented with national awards for excellence in HIV/AIDS coverage by the United States Embassy in Zambia.
• In January 2006, a follow-up session was convened in Lusaka to determine the success of the initial courses and ascertain additional training needs. The results of a participant survey and course evaluation were discussed and several news stories produced by the trainees were critiqued. More than two-thirds of the original trainees attended.