Browse through a newspaper (hardcopy or on-line) and find one newspaper article in the field of biology that is of interest to you. For example, the newspaper article may be on some breakthrough in medicine, new research developments on stem cells, a new drug for cancer, discovery of a new animal or plant species, discovery of new fossils, development of a new vaccine, etc. Find a newspaper article that contains some reference to the original scientific research article (primary source: authors performed the research themselves) that the journalist read and used to write his/her story. For example, you read a newspaper article entitled “Aspirin found to reduce risk of death from cancer” and the journalist tells the readers in the newspaper story that the study was published in the Lancet Medical Journal in December, 2010. You can now use this provided reference information to find the original science research article.
Read BOTH the newspaper article and the original research article (primary source) and now you and your partner will write a critique of the newspaper article. In your critique (essay format), address the following points/questions.
Title: (3 marks) Does the title of the newspaper article correctly describe the research topic in the primary scientific article? Is the title descriptive, accurate, and catches the interest of potential readers?
Your own title: (1 mark) Assuming that you were the reporters, write your own title for this newspaper story.
Newspaper article: (12 marks)
Do you agree with the facts provided in the newspaper story? Why or why not?
Is the newspaper article an accurate account of the published research? For example, did the journalist omit or downplay important information, inaccurately summarize the research, exaggerate information, mislead the readers, etc. How would you improve the newspaper story?
What details of the research article would you have focussed on if you were the journalists who wrote the newspaper story?
In your opinion, what is the importance of the scientific research to the general public?