"It is a dirty and deadly disease," she said.

"Do you know that if an AIDS patient is diagnosed early and has access to free antiretroviral drugs, he or she can live up to 80 years old?" I said.

"I never heard of this," she said.

"Where did you get such false information about AIDS?" I asked.

"The media," she said.

By informing and educating the public with correct information, journalists have the power to save lives.

I also believe that nothing should be decided without the input of people living with HIV/AIDS, so our educational program at Tsinghua involves people living with HIV/AIDS as full participating students and sometimes as lecturers in the workshops.

Sitting together with the journalists and government officials, the MSM, sex workers and drug users speak their minds and tell their stories.

Good HIV/AIDS journalism is based simply on the ability to tell a good story that touches the audience personally, leaves them more informed about HIV/AIDS, and allows people like Xiao Wu to live ordinary lives.

The author is a professor of Tsinghua University and the author of the coming book Intellectual dialogues of Tibet. xiguang@ tsinghua.edu.cn