Medical Disinformation: Niche-market Targeting in the Black Press during the AIDS Epidemic

This paper analyzes the distribution of information about AIDS by the Black press from 1983 to 1990. The information in articles published by Amsterdam News, a historically black newspaper, evolves as experts release accurate AIDS information during the same period. The conspiracy theories and false claims attributing AIDS to other populations shown in earlier Amsterdam News publications are corrected over time by helpful, truthful information released by doctors, as shown in later articles. My analysis of this trend relies on theories of niche-market targeting and definitions of mis- and disinformation to create a historical case study of the relationship between disinformation about medical conditions in the Black community and the role of the medical community in addressing that disinformation.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2023/1075/thumbnail.jp