Writing for digital news about HIV criminalization in Canada
This study examines the production of Canadian news media stories about HIV criminalization. Through institutional ethnographic interviews with journalists who produce news stories about HIV criminalization, this study brings into view that conditions of convergence journalism make it exceedingly difficult for reporters to disrupt the genre of crime stories about HIV criminalization in which stigmatizing discourses proliferate.
Constructing an “HIV-Killer”: HIV Non-Disclosure and the Techniques of Vilification
An analysis of the notorious Canadian criminal case of Johnson Aziga. The article outlines five key ways that people living with HIV who do not disclose their status to a sexual partner are characterised as dangerous by both the criminal justice system and the media.
‘The intention may not be cruel… but the impact may be’: understanding legislators’ motives and wider public attitudes to a draft HIV Bill in Malawi
Participatory Action Research undertaken during consideration of new HIV criminalisation laws in Malawi in 2010/11 indicated the proposed bill manifests a tension between intention and impact. By incorporating criminal sanctions as part of the proposed HIV bill, the lawmakers actively seek to use stigma to shape social attitudes and attempt to guide normative behaviour.