[The making of AIDS news]

This study is part of the overall research effort on the role of the media in making sense of events in late modernity. The main objective is to investigate the context in which news about AIDS is produced at the interface between norms for producing news (as expressed by professional journalists) and an analysis of news stories published in four mainstream Brazilian newspapers. The results are organized in three broad topics: (a) the construction of news about AIDS; (b) the visibility of AIDS news during the study period; and (c) factors that facilitate or hinder the production of AIDS news. Important factors include exclusiveness of the story and/or novelty of the content, the notion of hot (or cold) news, and the specific contents. The authors also emphasize the inevitable chance elements associated with organizational characteristics and daily journalism. They conclude by pointing to recent changes in both the shape of the AIDS epidemic and the communications dynamics resulting from recent developments in the electronic media.