HARD NEWS STORY
TRACKING AND TREATING THE TRANSMISSION
San Jose State University’s health service director, Ellen Jones, is creating a program to inform students of STD’s because of the high number of cases diagnosed, and the health office is offering free STD testing from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Monday through Friday.
On campus, 50 cases of students with STD’s have been reported and Jones wants to help prevent this. She wants students to know the risks and dangers that come with intercourse. The college plans to provide lectures held in dorms by health service personnel, encourage professors to show an educational movie in classes, and distribute informative pamphlets discussing various symptoms to a wide range of diseases.
“It seems much easier to have sex with people than to talk about having sex. There are some students on this campus who didn't even know the name of their sexual partners." Ellen states in response to the doubled number of cases estimated for the end of the school year.
In the past four years, there has been less than half the amount of cases that there are now. The health service office is now offering free STD testing which will help students maintain their health.
PRESS RELEASE
PREPARING STUDENTS TO TRACK AND TREAT SEXUAL TRANSMISSION
SJSU Worries That Students Are Not Well Educated On The Facts And Risks Of STD’s
Now-a-days health officials are wondering whether college should also include a class on sex education. The growing number of students being diagnosed with STD’s has been cause for the college to take greater actions to provide what they hope will be an educational and beneficial program. Health service director, Ellen Jones, says that the school is doing everything in its power to create a way of communicating to students regarding the various types of diseases and proactive ways of preventing and treating them.
"It seems much easier to have sex with people than to talk about having sex,” Jones said. “There are some students on this campus who didn't even know the name of their sexual partners."
During the last four years, the rate of STD diagnoses has more than doubled and is expected to triple by the end of the school year. The college will offer lectures given by health service personnel, informative movies shown in classes, and pamphlets containing significant information.
To ensure the safety of all students, the health office will provide free and confidential STD testing 5-days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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For your news story, the first thing that students would want to know is the number of STD cases on campus. That should be in your lead, not your second paragraph. (You can say what the health director is planning in paragraph 2.)
ReplyDeleteFor your news release, you don't need a long prologue/lead -- just say how the university is responding to this problem. That will put the university in a good light by showing that it's being proactive.
What you don't want to include in your news release is that inflammatory quote from Jones. It's great for a news story, but not for a news release. Why? Think about all the phone calls from angry parents the university president would get. "Are you calling my child a slut?" (Or something to that effect). Not good.
Also, I wouldn't give out the hours of "free testing" to the public in a news release -- at least not without stating that it's for students only -- or you could end up with a problem if the general public starts arriving at your university health service facility asking for those free STD tests.
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