HIV at 40: A Project by Students at Columbia Journalism School

The red ribbon, designed by the the Visual AIDS Artist Caucus in 1991, is a copyright free symbol for raising awareness of the ongoing spread of HIV. It was created to show compassion for people living with AIDS and remains a powerful image in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

In the 40 years since the start of the AIDS epidemic, major strides in testing, treatment, and prevention — spurred largely by the pressure activists put on public health officials and drug manufacturers to act — have made it possible for people with HIV to live longer, healthier lives. But HIV is still impacting communities across the U.S. There are 1.2 million Americans living with HIV, according to recent government estimates, with new infections disproportionately impacting marginalized communities and areas of the South.

This fall, students in Prof. Sam Freedman’s reporting section at Columbia Journalism School set out to look at the ongoing impact of HIV four decades after the first case was diagnosed. The result is HIVat40, a website launched on World AIDS Day 2021. It features a wide range of reporting on issues impacting the ongoing public health crisis, from systemic inequities facing Black trans sex workers, to the shrinking representation of HIV-positive people on American television. The reporters for this project are all fellows in the school’s Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.