Evaluation of News Magazine Stories

Both online magazines The Atlantic and The Week provide information about everything current and news worthy. In the cases of science and health, both sites provide enticing, debate-worthy topics, found here and here, respectively.

What are the debates? 

The article on The Atlantic discusses the use of psychedelics, such as psilocybin or LSD, to aid in beating a nicotine addiction. Though most of the article is made up of direct quotes from outside sources, it is a good source for essential background information on the topic. The article references Daniel Miller's publication in Newsweek, in which he tells first-hand how he overcame his nicotine addiction after using LSD.

The study started at Johns Hopkins University, and has spread around the world since then. According to the article, even the BBC has written an article on the study.

On the other hand, The Week reports on an unproven study that poor eating habits by ancestors may affect later generations' variety of stomach bacteria. In short, if our grandparents didn't eat enough fiber, it is possible that we have less forms of helpful bacteria in our digestive system, which can lead to health problems down the road.

A similar study on mice was conducted out of Stanford University and was lead by Erica Sonnenburg, a senior research scientist at the university. The study confirmed that a non-fibrois diet in older generations can indeed pass poor bacterial genes onto offspring.

Who are the most sympathetic people in the articles?

In the first article, it is extremely easy to relate to and sympathize with Daniel Miller, as he is quoted telling his own story about his overcoming of addiction. His story, and the fact that it is authored by himself, allows for readers to feel closer to the issue of addiction and relate to his feelings of relief upon quitting.

In the second article, it was more difficult to assign levels of sympathy to each of the characters. For no other reason other than the fact that she lead the study, it was most easy to relate to Erica Sonnenburg. By initiating an experiment on a topic otherwise nearly untouched, it is apparent that she is passionate about the topic, and thus evokes a sense of admiration for her determination.

Who are the least sympathetic people?

In article one, the author, Chris Bodenner, is the least relatable person by process of elimination. As previously mentioned, the majority of the article is direct, paragraph-long excerpts from other sources, with brief comments and opinions from Bodenner sporadically throughout.

In article 2, professor Kelly Swanson is the least relatable. Again, this is solely based on the process of elimination. Everyone loves a good professor of animal and nutritional sciences, but one comment from Swanson just isn't enough to relate to him in any significant way.