Analysis of 100 AIDS death obituaries published in the New York Times indicates that the imageries in these obituaries reflect much about the American society: about attitudes toward homosexuality, attitudes toward AIDS, and our understanding of the linkages between sexual practices and AIDS. Overall, the analysis suggests that the construction of AIDS obituaries in the New York Times may be manifestations of the American sociopolitical structure and a consequence of the bias and prejudice about homosexuality which appears to facilitate the rapid convergence of public fear and attitudes about AIDS.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
NobleG. R.ParraW. C., and HolmanP. B., Organizational Structure and Resources of CDC's HIV-AIDS Prevention Program, Public Health Reports, 106:6, pp. 604–607, November-December 1991.
2.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Estimates of HIV Prevalence and Projected AIDS Cases: Summary of Workshop, October 31-November 1, 1989, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 39, 1990.
3.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, pp. 1–23, February 1993.
4.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, pp. 1–18, March 1992.
5.
World Health Organization, Special Program on AIDS: Strategies and Structure Projected Needs, Author, Geneva, 1987.
6.
KinsellaJ., Covering the Plague: AIDS and the American Media, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1989.
7.
RhoadesR., A National Story had Come Home to Small Town America, ASNE Bulletin, 686, p. 22, April 1986.
8.
NielsenS., Reporting Hampered by Regulations and Reluctant Physicians, ASNE Bulletin, 686, p. 23, April 1986.
9.
AlaliA. O., Fear of AIDS as a Media Construct, unpublished data, 1992.
10.
AlterJ. and McKillopP., AIDS and the Right to Know, Newsweek, p. 132, August 18, 1986.
11.
WillG., Concerns for Discrimination Blurring Truths about AIDS, The (Madison, WI) Capital Times, June 9, 1987.
12.
NardiP. M., AIDS and Obituaries: The Perpetuation of Stigma in the Press, in Culture and AIDS, FeldmanD. A. (ed.), Praeger, New York, pp. 159–163, 1990.
13.
GoldsteinT., It's Not Up to You, The New York Times Book Review, pp. 15–16, June 27, 1993.
14.
KlaidmanS., Health in the News: The Stories Behind the Stories, Oxford University Press, New York, 1991.
15.
MilavskyJ. R., AIDS and the Media, paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Atlanta, Georgia, August 15, 1988.
16.
JetterA., AIDS and the Obits, Columbia Journalism Review, pp. 14–16, July-August 1986.
17.
SanfordD., Need We Guess Why Young Men are Dying?Wall Street Journal, p. 20, August 29, 1985.
18.
KirchlerE., Adorable Woman, Expert Man: Changing Gender Images of Women and Men in Management, European Journal of Social Psychology, 22:4, pp. 363–373, July-August 1992.
19.
AlbertE., Illness and Deviance: The Response of the Press to AIDS, in The Social Dimensions of AIDS: Methods and Theory, FeldmanD. A. and JohnsonT. M. (eds.), Praeger, New York, pp. 163–176, 1986.
20.
KastenbaumR.PeytonS., and KastenbaumB., Sex Discrimination after Death, Omega, 7, pp. 351–359, 1977.
21.
SillarsM. O., Messages, Meanings, and Culture: Approaches to Communication Criticism, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New York, 1991.
22.
AlaliA. O., Obituary and In-Memoriam Advertisements in Nigerian Newspapers, Omega, 28:2, pp. 97–108, 1994.
23.
HornM., Grief Re-examined, U.S. News & World Reports, p. 81, pp. 83–84, June 14, 1993.
24.
HuberJ. T., Death and AIDS: A Review of the Medico-legal Literature, Death Studies, 17, pp. 225–232, 1993.
25.
BatesB., Fighting Fear in the Newsroom, Channels, 10:19, pp. 30–31, December 17, 1990.
26.
LullJ., Preface, in Gay People, Sex, and the Media, WolfM. A. and KielwasserA. P. (eds.), Harrington Park Press, New York, pp. 1–4, 1991.
