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Press ReleasesIn Tamil Nadu, India, Radio Show on HIV Finds an Eager Audience
(April 2, 2007) Vijay Kumar has been working for the national broadcaster, All India Radio, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu for more than thirteen years. But he just completed his first program on HIV/AIDS earlier this year. It was not only the subject that was new to him; the format of his radio program was different too. Kumar attended an Internews training In January in Perundurai, Erode, where he learned how to produce high-quality talk shows on HIV that appeal to listeners in villages as well as in big cities. This is Internews’s first training for radio presenters in India and under the Local Voices program and its third radio training in India. Kumar began his program with a four-minute human interest feature on a woman who tested positive for HIV. A call in segment followed with a counselor in the studio who answered listener’s questions on Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT). “It is really a different thing to insert a short feature in the beginning of a talk show," said Kumar. "I had not done that earlier. The case study, namely the HIV-positive person who spoke in my story, helped to make listeners identify with the issue of HIV testing.” As part of the Internews training, Kumar and eight other trainees spoke with people living with HIV and local experts to learn more about the epidemic. They also visited a VCT center where they interviewed HIV counselors and recorded natural sound that they could use to convey a sense of the testing center for their listeners. While producing the stories with the guidance of Internews trainers, they learned how to write good radio scripts and edit the sound for their stories themselves. The trainers also helped trainees to find suitable studio guests who could answer listeners’ call-in questions. “My talk show was very well-received and attracted many phone-ins from all over Tamil Nadu,” says Kumar. “One caller asked about the difference between HIV and AIDS and how does one protect oneself. Another wanted to know what a pregnant woman should do if asked to take the HIV test without being given any proper reason. A third asked if there were medicines to prevent the transmission of HIV infection from mother to child. The studio guest answered the questions in detail and asked the listeners to go to the nearest VCT for counseling, if they had more questions.” Fifteen listeners whose queries could not be accommodated on air due to lack of time called Kumar after the program. Most also requested more such programs. Before the Internews training, Kumar had produced only a handful of programs on health and none on HIV/AIDS. He now hosts a regular talk show on HIV and health twice a month. This is a first for All India Radio At the Internews training, Kumar won the Best Student Award and received a memory stick to store the sound for his stories. After he produces five high-quality HIV programs, Internews has promised to award him his own flash recorder – he is currently working with a borrowed one. A flash recorder is a broadcast recording device. Each of the trainees produced a live call-in program with a feature focusing on aspects of HIV testing such as confidentiality, consent and counseling. All of the trainees have free access to the Internews Media Resource Center and mentoring facilities in Chennai. The workshop was part of Internews Network’s Local Voices project in Tamil Nadu and was made possible with financial and technical support from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief-USAID Washington and New Delhi, with collaborative support from the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society, the Voluntary Health Services- AIDS Prevention and Control Project and the Centers for Disease Control-Global AIDS Program. Internews Network also operates Local Voices programs in Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia and ran a short-term project in Cote d'Ivoire. Internews Europe manages a similar program in the Mekong Delta region of Southeast Asia. Vijay Kumar's radio insert in English (written transcript) Vijay Kumar's radio insert in Tamil FOR MORE INFORMATION: Mia Malan, Senior Health Journalism Advisor, Internews Dr. Jaya Shreedhar, Internews Resident Advisor India |
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