CMU PUBLIC TELEVISION PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 
May 22, 2006					

Contact: Ashleigh Klipper
989-774-6862
wcmu-pr@cmich.edu

"FRONTLINE: THE AGE OF AIDS"
PREMIERES ON CMU PUBLIC TELEVISION

Mt. Pleasant Ð On the 25th anniversary of the first diagnosed cases of AIDS, 
FRONTLINE examines one of the worst pandemics the world has ever known in "The 
Age of AIDS," airing on CMU Public Television, May 30-31 from 9:00-11:00 p.m. After 
a quarter-century of political denial and social stigma, of stunning scientific 
breakthroughs, bitter policy battles and inadequate prevention campaigns, HIV/AIDS 
continues to spread rapidly throughout much of the world, particularly in developing 
nations. 

Over 25 years, roughly 70 million people have been infected with the virus and 22 
million have already died of AIDS. And the crisis continues: over the next decade, an 
estimated 50 million more people will contract HIV. 
 
Why humanity has failed to stop the spread of HIV is the central question of "The Age of 
AIDS." Over four hours, the series examines one of the most important scientific and 
political stories of our time: the story of a mysterious agent that invaded the human 
species and exploited its frailties and compulsions Ñ sexual desire and drug addiction, 
bigotry and greed, political indifference and bureaucratic inertia Ñ to spread itself across 
the globe. 
 
In the first night's two-hour broadcast, "The Age of AIDS" begins with the medical and 
scientific mystery that emerged in 1981 when five gay men in Los Angeles were 
diagnosed with a new disease. The film documents the frantic search by American and 
European scientists and epidemiologists to find the source of the deadly infection.  

The second night of "The Age of AIDS" begins by exploring the chasm that emerged 
between rich and poor following the development of the miraculous "triple cocktail" HIV 
treatment.  

"The story of this pandemic shows how AIDS is a lens that reveals the flaws in the social 
fabric of every country it enters," says Renata Simone, series producer and reporter for 
"The Age of AIDS." "AIDS always was a preventable pandemic. And it still is Ñ the 
lessons for the future are here in the history." 

CMU Public Television includes WCML Channel 6 Alpena, WCMU Channel 14 Mt. 
Pleasant, WCMW Channel 21 Manistee, WCMV Channel 27 Cadillac, Channel 46 
Traverse City, and Channel 69 Leland.

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