Sports journalists fight HIV in Southern Africa

HIV/AIDS is the pandemic of our time. More than 35 million people are estimated to be HIV-positive in the nations south of Sahara.

As an example, in a country such as Botswana that has a population of 1.4 million, you will find approximately 250.000 orphans. Life expectancy is currently 35 years on average - ten years ago life expectancy was 60 years.

Sport journalists can play a role when it comes to fighting HIV/aids.

Sponsored by Sida, the Swedish International Development Authority, training has been given to more than 100 African reporters, women and men from the SADC-countries following the programme "How to broaden sport journalism" since 2001.

Getting the message of safe sex across
The sport pages can reach out to people all over the African continent.

It is possible that some people will not hear the message when the Minister of Health speaks about the importance of safe sex.

The message gets through to more people when role models, such as popular football players get involved and deliver the same message about practising safe sex. So says Amos Mananyetso, one of the African course leaders and also deputy sports editor at Sunday World in Johannesburg.

Mananyetso was recruited as course-assistant when participating in the course in Gaborone in Botswana in 2002.

He was provided training by Fojo, the Institute for Further Education of Journalists in Kalmar, Sweden. Fojo has been in charge of the course programme since the start five years ago.

“In 2010, we will host the World Cup in football in South Africa. The Safa (South African Football Association) has launched the motto ‘make sure to experience the cup - fight HIV/AIDS’.

They need help to spread this message. Sport reporters can make a big difference on this issue”, Mananyetso says.

“However, the course aims to go further. It includes various aspects. In sports journalism, you can bring in so many different elements, like gender, social reporting, economy of sports, sport for the disabled and for young children.

It all comes down to press ethics; we also have to think of our own reliability. Our audience has to be able to believe in us”, says Amos Mananyetso.

Massive interest and few places 
The Sida courses from Fojo started in 2001 as a result of a conversation between the Swedish ambassador in Windhoek, Namibia, and local radio- and TV reporter, Stuart Super.

Stuart Super wanted to increase the level of sports reporting in the region and the ambassador saw potential in mixing sports journalism with questions of democracy information on HIV/AIDS.

The interest for these courses has been high. Since 2002, Fojo has been co-operating with the media institute NSJ in Maputo, Mozambique and the word of mouth has spread from one news desk to next.

More than 100 journalists have applied to participate in the most recent courses but there is only places for 20 journalists.

Still, all participants belong to the "The web of African sport reporters", which means that more than 100 reporters have the possibility of keeping in touch and giving each other advice and support on a regular basis.

The participants also share the knowledge which they gain from the courses with their colleagues. The course is an eye-opener for so many, Mananyetso reflects.

With his extensive network, Mananyetso has been able to bring in all kinds of guest lecturers. The media institute NSJ has contributed by bringing in experts on HIV/AIDS related issues.

“There are so many questions on the subject that are closely connected to sports reporting. For instance, if an HIV-positive boxer mixes blood with his opponent in the ring - what can happen?

We also have colleagues in our media companies that suffer from AIDS, how can we help them”?

Support from local football teams
The last three courses in 2003-2005, have all been held in Johannesburg.

Study visits have been made to local football teams, e.g. Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Sundowns, who all take an active role in fighting HIV and AIDS by running orphanages.

The teams also give economic support to the fan clubs to help these clubs in their information work on HIV/AIDS.

During a visit to the Sundowns training camp outside Pretoria in November 2005, the participants wrote stories and posed questions such as "why does the club not have an official policy on HIV/AIDS?", "Why do so few parents take interest in what their kids are doing?", "How can football be made more popular in the white population?" and "How to strengthen the Union of Foot ball players". These all were interesting and comprehensive stories.

Sports journalism is as important as any other journalistic field; it is not “just sports”.

During the courses on the subject "How to broaden sport journalism", we have illustrated that sport journalism should be taken seriously and that sport can make a big difference.