Lives in Focus
Lives in Focus is an interactive web-based initiative focused on documenting the lives of
Indians affected by the AIDS epidemic and the challenges that stigmatised AIDS patients face in India. The website also interviews activists and doctors struggling to fight the epidemic. The project uses video, audio and photographs to present the voices of those who the producers (two journalists) say are rarely given space or time in traditional news media.
Communication Strategies
Operating under a Creative Commons License, Lives in Focus uses information and communication technology (ICT) to draw attention to, and invite dialogue and action on, the lives of India's HIV-positive population. Established by two United States-based media professionals of Indian origin - a journalist/professor and a photographer - the portal features news and information as well audio, video, and photograph galleries designed to provide an intimate glimpse into what it is like to contract and then live with HIV/AIDS in India.
Although the portal does feature the insights of activists and doctors, the emphasis is on the experiences of Indians actually living with the disease. For example, a brief story explains how Raj came to contract AIDS at age 30 due to contaminated blood placed in his body during a transfusion necessitated by an accident. A video interview from Raj's perspective explores the kind of loss, misunderstanding, and discrimination he has faced. Many other personal stories are shared here in an effort to raise awareness and inspire empathy.
As part of Lives in Focus' effort to provide a "lens on life in the margins", organisers are undertaking specific projects such as a focus on the impact of India's March 2005 patent law on the treatment of the country's HIV-positive population. An effort is underway to use multi-media technology to document the lives of families struggling to buy anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs for their loved ones, and the challenges that stigmatised AIDS patients face in trying to earn enough money to buy what is being described as lifesaving treatment. Specifically, armed with audio recorders, cameras, and video recorders, the project visited AIDS shelters and hospices in and around Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Organisers will harness the internet to showcase an issue that they feel has global ramifications - not just as a means of providing information but as a way to involve viewers.
In short, the strategy involves using ICTs and the arts to bypass traditional media gatekeepers to help people gain awareness of a pressing issue and - hopefully - to rshape their attitudes and spur them to take action.
Although the portal does feature the insights of activists and doctors, the emphasis is on the experiences of Indians actually living with the disease. For example, a brief story explains how Raj came to contract AIDS at age 30 due to contaminated blood placed in his body during a transfusion necessitated by an accident. A video interview from Raj's perspective explores the kind of loss, misunderstanding, and discrimination he has faced. Many other personal stories are shared here in an effort to raise awareness and inspire empathy.
As part of Lives in Focus' effort to provide a "lens on life in the margins", organisers are undertaking specific projects such as a focus on the impact of India's March 2005 patent law on the treatment of the country's HIV-positive population. An effort is underway to use multi-media technology to document the lives of families struggling to buy anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs for their loved ones, and the challenges that stigmatised AIDS patients face in trying to earn enough money to buy what is being described as lifesaving treatment. Specifically, armed with audio recorders, cameras, and video recorders, the project visited AIDS shelters and hospices in and around Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Organisers will harness the internet to showcase an issue that they feel has global ramifications - not just as a means of providing information but as a way to involve viewers.
In short, the strategy involves using ICTs and the arts to bypass traditional media gatekeepers to help people gain awareness of a pressing issue and - hopefully - to rshape their attitudes and spur them to take action.
Development Issues
HIV/AIDS.
Key Points
As of this writing, Lives in Focus has gathered nearly 2,000 photographs and 13 hours of video interviews; new video and photographs are added to the site weekly.
Lives in Focus is the co-creation of Sandeep Junnarkar, an award-winning journalist and journalism professor who writes frequently for the New York Times, and Srinivas Kuruganti, a photographer who has chronicled the lives of sex workers, coal miners and eunuchs in India. His work has been featured in the New York Times and the Village Voice.
Lives in Focus is the co-creation of Sandeep Junnarkar, an award-winning journalist and journalism professor who writes frequently for the New York Times, and Srinivas Kuruganti, a photographer who has chronicled the lives of sex workers, coal miners and eunuchs in India. His work has been featured in the New York Times and the Village Voice.
Sources
- Log in to post comments