Ethical Issues in Gender-Sensitive Journalism: Media Framing of HIV in Indonesian Digital News

Abstract

The ethical reporting of HIV in Southeast Asia digital space remains problematic as news framing frequently reinforces stigma toward people living with HIV and LGBTQIA+ communities. This study aims to analyze how Indonesian digital news media construct HIV-related narratives and how these frames contribute to stigma through gender-sensitive ethical concerns. A qualitative content analysis was conducted in 2024–2025 news articles from Detik, Antara News, and Republika Online using Entman’s framing theory and Goffman’s stigma theory. Findings show that HIV is predominantly framed through attribution to sexual orientation groups, particularly LGBTQIA+ identities, alongside moralized and stigmatizing language that simplifies causality. This framing marginalizes structural determinants of HIV, reinforces blame attribution, and shapes public understanding in ways that intensify social stigma and exclusion. The study concludes that such reporting practices reflect ethical shortcomings in fairness and harm minimization, potentially undermining public health communication and reinforcing discrimination. It highlights the need for stronger adherence to gender-sensitive journalism standards and more contextualized epidemiological reporting to avoid conflating identity with disease risk. Improved framing is essential to reduce stigma, support inclusive public health responses, and ensure accurate representation of HIV as a multifactorial health issue rather than a morality-based narrative. Overall, the study demonstrates how media discourse contributes to the social construction of stigma in Indonesia’s HIV communication landscape. These findings emphasize that ethical lapses in language choice and framing not only distort public understanding but also have tangible consequences for marginalized groups’ willingness to seek testing and treatment. Strengthening ethical guidelines is therefore urgent.