HIV/AIDS has been one of the greatest challenges of our times since its discovery in the earlyrn1980s. As of December 2003, the UNAIDS reported that 40 million people are living withrnHIV/AIDS. Yet the issue of AIDS was relatively slow in getting priority in the national agendarnand it did not attract much mass media coverage at the beginning of the epidemic.rnMass media are generally defined as those channels of communication, which are capable ofrnreaching heterogeneous audiences simultaneously with uniform messages; they include radio,rntelevision, and newspapers and magazines. They are effective in raising awareness, increasingrnknowledge, changing attitudes and behavior. But considerable debate surrounds the effectivenessrnof the message; particularly at the beginning the epidemic the messages were frightening,rnsensational and over-dramatized. They were produced without due consideration and sometimernresulted in stigma and discrimination. Hence the role of the mass media in HIV/AIDS isrnunquestionable but their use requires care and guidelines. Therefore, evaluation of thesernmessages is absolutely important.rnThe objective of this study was to assess how mass media messages of HIV/AIDS were designedrnand disseminated, their appropriateness and contents. The major study design was a qualitativernstudy, which includes case studies and in-depth interviews.rnIn addition a quantitative content analysis was conducted on the Addis Zemen and EthiopianrnHerald newspapers. The study was conducted from December 2003 to February 2004.rnVrnThe study identified training of journalists on HIV/AIDS as being inadequate and the lack ofrnmedia networking. In addition no ethical guidelines and mass media policy on HIV/AIDS werernto be found. Based on the findings, appropriate recommendations were made for improvement inrnthe deficient areas.rnKeywords: Evaluation, mass media, case studies, in-depth interviews, content analysis.