“This is how HIV cure might look,” said the headline of a story posted July 21 by the Star.
That headline drew you right in. Next, one bullet in the summary at the top enticed you to keep reading.
It said: “We now know why the virus keeps evading antiretroviral therapy and where it hides. We have proof of concept that a cure is possible.” Aha!
The story edited by Tom Jalio took the reader through a thoughtfully conducted, entertainingly reported and informative interview.
The subject was Dr Peter Cherutich, a celebrated Kenyan public health specialist and researcher.
The interview drew out from Dr Cherutich insightful outcomes of a heady summit last February in California by some of the world’s top HIV researchers.
The story begun with a reminder that until today, two people and several mice have been cured of HIV. This instantly told the reader that the optimism for a cure in the visible future is not foolish.
“In the last three years, the milestone for a cure has gone up sharply because we have an idea what would lead to a cure,” said Dr Cherutich. This further peaked a reader’s curiosity. What would a cure look like?
And the story does not disappoint.
“The way a HIV cure would happens is that we would start with ARV so when the viral load is down, you knock them down,” the good doctor said plainly.
So, what has taken us so long? The story explained that the enemy has not only been cheekily elusive, it hides where you can’t shoot it down.
Dr. Cherutich explained: “When a virus has entered a cell, sometimes this cell exposes itself to white blood cells and is killed together with the virus. […] It’s like if someone is hijacked by thugs, sometimes they can’t alert cops in case they are shot along with the hijackers.”
How clearer could you paint a complex picture!
So, exactly how far are we from a cure? The California summit discussed how to ensure the widest possible distribution for a cure, Dr Cherutich revealed, and how it will be accessed.
The reader got it. You wouldn’t plan logistics with nothing to transport, right? So, the long search for an HIV cure must be on the home-stretch.
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And now to a few recent stories that left you scratching your head.
- Standard: “Manu Chandaria solemnizes marriage after 64 years,” said a headline July 19. What? Chandaria has been living in sin for 64 years? Well, not quite. The story promptly dropped off a cliff. “Kenyan billionaire businessman Manu Chandaria and the love of his life Aruna Chandaria renewed their vows at the Attorney General’s Chambers in Nairobi.”
What? Did the Chandarias just get a marriage certificate for the first time in their old age? Because, “solemnize” means to duly perform a formal [marriage] ceremony. Or did they merely renew vows in a life-long legal marriage? Because, to “renew vows” means to reaffirm commitment. Which was it?
To figure this out, you had to read the rest of the story — which, by the way, revealed sweet, endearing anecdotes about the Chandarias. But the contradiction in headline and intro will have annoyed many a reader enough to drop the story at the top.
- Standard: “Governor Mutua in ‘presidency talks’ with Raila,” said a headline on July 17. The intro said the two held talks at Raila’s office in Nairobi, period. No news value. Then, this sentence: “Mutua’s convoy snaked in Raila’s private offices in Capitol Hill at around 9.35 am…”
Huh? A convoy snaked where? Then, “Although Raila was not available to address the press after the meeting, Mutua revealed his discussion with the former Prime Minister touched on several issues of national importance…”
Was not available, national importance, what are those? Was this news or a PR piece?
- Business Daily: “33 counties apply for controversial Sh1bn mobile health clinics,” said a headline July 9. The story then said everything under the sun, except what the controversy was. And not a single description of what a whooping Sh1 billion mobile clinics look like to help the reader decide if these things were worth that kind of money — or the unnamed controversy.
- Business Daily: “Foreign national tops race to succeed Collymore,” said a headline July 3. What foreign national? The story didn’t say.
