On 4th November 1985, the UK’s BBC2 broadcast “A Plague on You: AIDS, the Media and the Truth” as one of it’s ‘Open Space’ programmes.

Open Space was a weekly series “which involves the public in making, shaping or influencing programmes on issues of social concern, which introduce new subjects or give different perspective on more familiar topics.”

The programme usually went out at 7.40 p.m. on a Monday night. But ‘A Plague on You’ was clearly too strong for the BBC’s sensibilities and it was broadcast at 10.25 p.m. instead.

The programme had its origins in an open meeting organised by the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) and the Labour Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Rights (LCLGR) in April that year. The meeting was called “to plan a response to the twin medical and political threats posed by the disease of AIDS.” *

Given that the Terrence Higgins Trust was already addressing the health and educational issues, it was decided to concentrate on the political aspects of AIDS. Two main areas for action were identified – the Trades Unions and the Media.

A Media Group was formed at the meeting and it began to organise its own meetings.

It was at one of those meetings that the suggestion to contact BBC Open Space was made. When an application was made and subsequently accepted, an open meeting, advertised in Capital Gay, was then held at the Fallen Angel pub in Islington. It was there that ideas for a programme began to take shape. Some broad aims were established:

1. To expose the lies and distortions of the media, and to show the effect this was having on lesbians and gay men and all people concerns with AIDS
2. In particular, to make it clear that:

• AIDS is NOT a ‘gay plague’
• AIDS is not contagious
• AIDS is NOT a lesbian and gay problem; no one is to blame
• AIDS is a major health problem of concern to everyone
• To show the responsibility of lesbians and gay men in the face of the public health risks posed by AIDS
• To show the irresponsibility of the media

 

But it soon transpired that being accepted by the BBC was the easy part. Various obstacles loomed at the production process got underway. This included the fact that “…BBC Management regarded the programme as such a threat to family viewing that it had to be moved to a late night slot…”*

Access to material was also a problem. Some TV programmes refused permission – or simply ignored requests – to screen their footage. And, as far as print media was concerned – “Almost every Fleet Street editor and journalist who we approached for an interview turned us down as well.”*

In spite of the obstacles, the programme was made and broadcast – albeit in a late night time slot. And, whilst the media refusal to cooperate may have impacted on the actual programme, the accompanying booklet – produced by the Lesbian and Gay Media Group and distributed by the BBC – certainly helped fill a lot of gaps.

In it, the group was able to assert that: “The media coverage of AIDS, in all its sensational inaccuracy, is no accident. It is not an unfortunate lapse on the part of an otherwise responsible media. Rather, it is all of a piece with the way any issue linked with lesbians and gay men is reported…”*

“…homosexuals and homosexuality are naturally portrayed as abnormal. Lesbians and gay men are variously characterised as perverts, criminals and weirdos, homosexuality itself as a problem. Added to this is the odd belief that homosexuality is something you can catch, like a cold, and so should always be shown in a bad light.” * [It’s worth noting here that a 1987 study, Are We Being Served: Lesbians, Gays and Broadcasting provided much greater detail on this problem.}

“…For a story to be considered newsworthy it has to contain certain elements :- sensation, shock, sex, death, shadiness, criminality, drugs, gossip, or Royalty (entertainers are an acceptable substitute or, at a push, politicians.) As far as Fleet Street is concerned, news is what sells papers, rather than what is important or true, which is why the written press has generally been much worse than TV or radio…AIDS, therefore, is indeed “like a gift from God” (Derek Jameson [Editor of the News of the World until 1984]) to the media. as a presently incurable illness, it has elements of death, sex and shadiness. It is, again in Jameson’s words, “an old fashioned scare story.””

The Group then went on to summarise the outcomes it hoped the project would achieve: “One half hour programme alone cannot do much. However, the Lesbian and Gay Media Group hope that the making and showing of “A Plague on You” will have given lesbians and gay men the hope and extra courage needed to fight off the attacks on us and continue to stand proud.

We hope that you – lesbian, gay, bisexual or heterosexual, particularly if heterosexual – will talk to your friends, relatives and workmates about AIDS and TELL THEM THE TRUTH. Whatever else you do, never again look at a paper of watch TV with an uncritical eye. There’s no such thing as SAFER READING and SAFER VIEWING too.”

This was in 1985. It seems to me we still need to be aware of media bias and ensure that we maintain a critical eye.

NOTE: All quotes are taken from the booklet produced by the Lesbian and Gay Media Group to accompany the screening of the ‘Open Space’ film.