More is (not) better? Interpreting the increasing visibility of HIV-related stigma in Vietnamese mainstream media through systematic content analysis methods

The Vietnamese press continues to be an influential medium in Vietnamese culture, both shaping and reflecting official and mainstream views on major national issues. This study examines discourses around HIV/AIDS in the mainstream news media in order to characterize trends in the representation of the epidemic, two decades after Vietnam's first HIV diagnosis. Extraction of all articles related to HIV/AIDS in Vietnam between January 2005 and May 2011 from the four most prominent and highest circulating Vietnamese news publications, as well as one HIV/AIDS specific publication was systematically analyzed. The qualitative media content analysis revealed a shift in the HIV discourse over time. Overall, publications displayed a discursive movement from idioms of “prevention” and “control” in talking about HIV to idioms of “care/support” and “stigma”, across the six-year period. Moreover, a greater number of themes and codes emerged over time, as did stakeholders. Content analysis suggests contradictory messages of HIV related stigma emerging in mainstream news media. Although there is a marked increase in PLWHA stories that carry a positive light, many stories of PLWHAs continue to carry negative associations such as drug use and prostitution, encouraging the already present stigmatized link between “social evils” and HIV. Vietnam's media content continues to portray contradictory messages of PLWHAs and stigma, reinforcing and representing HIV-related stigma in the general population. While mainstream media may reflect official and not vernacular discourses of HIV, even here, the need to address the stigma(s) associated with HIV is great.