http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-black-aidsapr13,0,2563107.story
-Dahleen Glanton
This article begins with a feature lead about a woman with HIV. It is interesting that they state her name in the first sentence. She is not someone who is well known, but maybe this is done to really personalize the story and piece as a whole. The second paragraph introduces the problem that Holt, introduced in the lead, is face with. Since moving from the North to the South, she realized the services available to her as an HIV patient were lacking. This brings in the cultural differences of the acceptance of HIV.
The second paragraph brings in another aspect of Holt's life: poverty. It talks of her trouble with living conditions and jobs. This paragraph goes into detail about her living arrangements, Medicaid, and disability check. These details really bring the reader into Holt's daily life.
The next paragraph, a short sentence, brings to light the cultural differences between the North and the South. The writer recognizes that many in Holt's new ommunity see HIV and AIDS as a sin. Holt is then quoted for the first time speaking out about this regional difference.
The next paragraph broadens this problem stating that health care professionals have dealt with this problem for almost a decade. The first statistic is stated: 1.1 million people live in the South with HIV/AIDS.
At this point the writer answers a question that I know I was asking at this point: So what are we going to do about it? The Obama administration is commited to spending millions on education and prevention. I think this is a good location in the story to place this answer. At this point I do not view this statement as yet another government program taking tax- payers money. Instead, I have been pulled into the life of Sheila Holt and find myself fully supporting a 45 million dollar program.
A possible explanation for the lack of HIV/AIDS services in the South is presented in the next paragraph. A study by the Trust for America's Health is used to display that during the economic downturn, Midwestern and Southern States are receiving the least federal fudning to spend on public health. This paragraph brings in the hot topic: the economy. Blame it on the economy. Health professionals fear a hard hit due to budget shortfalls. This subject is supported by the second source quoted in this piece, Jeff Levi executive director for the trust.
The next paragraph gives some history about this problem. In 2006 the government increased allocation of HIV/AIDS money to the South, but it just couldn't make up for all the years of underfunding. The conclusion? Many patients in the South lack adequate housing, transportation and access to medication. This conclusion makes the reader immediately think of Holt. Another source is introduced to support this paragraph. Kathie Hiers, former co- chair of the Southern AIDS Coalition points out that ther are bigger problems, and there needs to be a better level of parity between the states.
The next paragraph provides a little bit of an explanation for why the South has so many less resources than the North. Simply put, the Northeast experiences the greatest impact from AIDS. Yet, the South has the greatest number of people living with AIDS. Dr. Richard Wolitski, director of the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS prevention supports this paragraph by stating that the bulk of available data does not suggest that the epidemic in the South is getting worse.
The next few paragraphs introduce Dr. Michelle Ogle who talks of her struggle to serve patients with limited resources. I thought this was a very good touch. First, the reader got in touch with a struggling patient, and now the reader has the insight of an individual on the other side of things. Ogle talks of how they are not just fighting HIV, but rather a culture. This ties back to what Holt described in the beginning.
The story finishes by introducing one more individual suffering from HIV, Jo Lee Cooper. This source not only connects back to Holt who was in the feature lead, but she is also one of Dr. Ogle's patients.
I thought this story was very thorough with a great variety of sources. It encompassed a lot of different things which kind of had things jump around. From the economy, regional differences, HIV/AIDS statistics, to personal accounts and government intervention.... Overall, this piece grabbed my attention with an emotional connection and held it through to the end. I feel more informed and have even developed concern for this issue.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment