Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Evaluation of News Magazine Stories

     Magazines are always a good sources of news, with shorter and easier to read articles that can still efficiently get information across. Now that magazines have moved online, like most sources of reading, they are even more accessible for information. Of the top news magazines I chose WIRED  and The New Yorker to analyze and evaluate for stories. Ultimately I decided to choose a story about the regulation of genetic testing and another story about Republican backed clean energy, it may not specifically adress my field of research it is science related.

ajcann.wordpress.com, AJC. "Telomeres"08/04/2013 via Flickr.
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The Discourse(tm) 
     Genetic Testing- Within this story the conflict is about genetic testing; specifically the work done by 23andMe which gives a user ancestral data and personal genetic traits and health problems information. The FDA is trying to regulate the company because the FDA thinks that the organization is not up to code on health code, incumbents that are having patients/customers taken from them dislike it. and also that because of its potential for diagnosing disease it has to be pre-approved by the FDA.
     Clean Energy- The debate within this story is not so much in this story as it is in the background as a continuing debate that through the future connected to this story may have a happy resolution. It has been common that those on the conservative side of politics also looked conservatively at energy; sticking to fossil fuels and detesting the renewable or cleaner sources of energy possible. This summit promoting that conservatives also begin to turn to clean energy and saving our environment is controversial because it is a move away from what it has been in the past.

Have Some Sympathy
     Genetic Testing-The most sympathetic character within this story is the 23andMe organization; the product and its venture do not fall into the perfect FDA regulations because it's new and the FDA has not predicted how the modern age of science could change the public sector for things even like genetic testing. I feel sympathy for 23andMe because they are providing a service to those who wouldn't and are being punished in a way for being innovative and providing something the people want.
     Clean Energy- I would not call what this stories characters invoke sympathy in the sense of pity but the characters I can most relate to or agree with within the story would be the younger conservatives who actually helped put the summit together. I feel sympathy for them in trying to change the views of those that are on the conservative side so that the world may be changed to be a better place.

giovzaid85. "The WIndmills of the Gods" 03/01/2013 via Flickr.
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Got No Sympathy 
      Genetic Testing- For me the people within this specific story I'm most unsympathetic towards are the incumbents, doctors and industry regulators, that did not plan or expect this product of genetic testing to appear in the field for people to take advantage of and are now panicking to have it removed or at least regulated heavily to give them time to adjust. The incumbents seem too set in their old ideas and ways and unprepared for change for me to have sympathy for their "plight".
     Clean Energy- Those that do not receive my sympathy or that I cannot sympathize for are those that still ignore or push back changes for clean energy. They are the ones still not allowing for bills to pass through Congress that would put us on a track to ensuring the protection of the environment and instead push towards greater disaster.

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