The Media Fights Back

Bill Roedy has always viewed doing nothing as not being an option. Photo courtesy of GBC

Q: Bill, you've had an amazingly diverse professional life-you were a career officer in the U.S. Army for almost seven years before you transitioned to television and joined MTV in 1989. When did HIV/AIDS first emerge on your radar screen and what made you passionate about the issue?

Bill Roedy: It's always been important to me. More importantly, it's always been important for MTV too. We've been involved in this issue for 25 years, and the reason that we continue to strive to find news ways of getting our message out is because 40 percent of new HIV infections are amongst those under 25, which is our core audience.

Using our global network to communicate HIV prevention messages is one of the most important things we can do to contribute to this cause.

From the beginning of the epidemic, I've always admired how MTV has pushed the envelope, producing HIV/AIDS PSAs, introducing viewers to positive people, and encouraging young people to protect themselves and get tested. Did you ever worry that the company would receive backlash for being so bold?

No, in fact I have always viewed doing nothing as not being an option. Using our global network to communicate HIV prevention messages is one of the most important things we can do to contribute to this cause. I would like to encourage other companies to play to their strengths and look at how they can contribute too. We all have a role to play.

Does MTV's strong position on HIV/AIDS serve as a recruitment and retention tool for employees, or help the company bring the right people on board?

There have been many studies done which show staff appreciation when their company and senior management are involved in social causes. I would hope that our involvement in HIV and AIDS as well as other issues, such as children's rights and the environment, serves as an attraction for existing and future staff members.

Peter Dolan, Richard Gere, Sumner Redstone, Sharon Stone, and Tom Hanks are just a few of the honorees amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research) has already celebrated. How does it feel to be inducted into such a distinguished group?

It's not about me. I'm representing a great group of people - members of MTV Networks around the world.

This past World AIDS Day, after completing an enormously successful eighteen months as the Chair of the Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI) Leadership Committee, you turned the position over to Dali Mpofu. Kofi Annan sang your praises: "Bill Roedy has mobilized media companies around the world to make unprecedented commitments to HIV prevention through innovative campaigns and programming." Can you explain why prevention efforts are still so important?

Prevention efforts are still important because the worldwide response to HIV and AIDS has not matched the scale of the disease. 40 million people are infected. Prevention is important because no one needs to contract HIV. Education can prevent infection. The UN believes that effective education programmes can significantly cut infection rates.

I want the media and business to show global leadership by educating the world to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. Education can also lessen the stigma associated with the illness. Only with significant and widespread education campaigns can you hope to counter stigma. Education destroys prejudice and ignorance. Education encourages tolerance.

Prevention efforts are still important because the worldwide response to HIV and AIDS has not matched the scale of the disease.

At the June 2006 U.N. High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, you made a great comment, noting that over the course of the week, 43,000 people were infected with HIV but that this fact does not garner the media attention that results when the same number of chickens are infected with Bird Flu. Do you worry that a false sense of complacency is affecting media coverage and making our disease response suffer?

Yes. There is complacency in the media. There has been a great deal of suffering reported in the media: earthquakes, tsunamis & hurricanes, not to mention the Iraq war and Afghanistan. But it's worth remembering that the numbers killed by AIDS last year would have equaled a dozen Asian tsunamis, or dozens of earthquakes.

The reality is that HIV and AIDS levels have not reduced. While treatment is prolonging life in some parts of the world, the reality is that in many parts of the Developing World, HIV infection rates are rising and AIDS still leads to premature death.

Since its January 2004 launch, GMAI has expanded rapidly. Is there room for additional growth and if so, how do you propose generating it?

Yes, there is always room for growth and improvement. We want every media company to be involved. There is endless scope for input from everyone, great and small. We want HIV and AIDS education and prevention information to be part of the DNA of every media company.

And those roles extend to advertising and PR, not just creative producers. MTVN's Staying Alive HIV and AIDS education campaign has just collaborated with the world's leading advertising agencies to produce HIV prevention messages. They are not only being aired across MTV's web and mobile platforms, but are also being picked up by 35 other broadcasters and content distributors globally.

We offer Staying Alive material rights free to all broadcasters, so that our Staying Alive programming regularly reaches over 90 percent of the top 50 heavily impacted HIV and AIDS countries.

What can non-media companies do to ameliorate disease misperceptions and stigma surrounding those infected with and affected by the disease?

There is a role for everyone: workplace programmes, community outreach programmes, local partnerships. The key is not to reinvent the wheel but to seek advice about what you can do. There are people that companies can reach out to, such as the GBC, who can advise and suggest roles in any country or market around the world.

Getting involved is good for business and good for employee morale. It helps communities and it shows leadership.

You've been an important part of the GBC family since our earliest days. As someone who fully understands why HIV/AIDS is a business issue, how would you make this pitch to businesses that are not yet convinced the disease impacts them?

I'd say that getting involved is good for business and good for employee morale. It helps communities and it shows leadership. Companies working in high-impact countries note improvements in productivity, morale and staff turnover. The more infection is prevented, the better for all. We're all in this together.

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Mr. Bill Roedy is the Vice Chairman for MTV Networks, and President of MTV Networks International (MTVNI). He oversees all of MTV Networks' growing international multimedia business operations for the brands: MTV: Music Television, Nickelodeon, VH1, VIVA, TMF: The Music Factory, The Box, FLUX, Game One, LOGO and Paramount Comedy.




This interview is provided courtesy The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC). To subscribe to the GBC bi-monthly newsletter, please visit the GBC website.

To read another Global Envision article about using media to galvanize the public about AIDS, see Pulling Stunts to End AIDS Ignorance.



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