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Source Evaluation

Source Evaluation
Corey Lamb
Northern Illinois University
T. MessickMessik
02 February 2015

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Source Evaluation

The Credibility of authors is the number one thing that people should think about
when considering different sources to formulate an argument or formulate research. When
researching it is very important to make sure that the articles you are reading online are valid.
Nowadays anyone can put anything online to make a statement or a stance on a topic or
event. But, that doesnt necessarily mean that the person who puts this information out there
has the credentials to speak or take a stance that specific situation or topic. For example, if
you were doing research on politics in the US would you read an article written by me? Or
would you read the article that was written by the established and experienced politician? If
we do no question or do research on the publishers and authors of online articles then its
possible that all of our research could be a waste. I have ready three different articles by the
same author Nathaniel Johnson What I learned from six months of GMO research: None of
it matters, Golden Rice: Fools gold or golden opportunity?, and "Is genetic engineering a
doomed effort to reinvent natures wheel? all of which are about genetically modified foods.
Lets explore exactly what it is that makes an author creditable. A creditable author always
has other creditable sources that they cite, they often have educational/experiential credentials
themselves, and the publisher always has a direct reason for publishing the article underneath
their site.
The company that Johnson works for is called Grist News Organization. Grist has
been around for 15 years which means they have personal stable success. According to their
website underneath the About us tab Grist says they are a source of intelligent, irreverent
environmental news and commentary thats been around since 1999. They cover climate,
energy, food, cities, politics, business, green living, and the occasional adorable baby animal.
Their goal is to get people talking, thinking, and taking action. And its working them now
reach a community of more than 2 million people a month.in his articles he directly fits his

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role. Also according to the Information they have on their website about writers Johnson is a
journalist who lives in Berkeley with his wife and daughter. He has contributed to magazines
such as Harpers, New York, and Conservation, and to National Public Radio and This
American Life. His first book is All Natural: A Skeptics Quest to Discover If the Natural
Approach to Diet, Childbirth, Healing, and the Environment Really Keeps Us Healthier and
Happier
To Begin, the first article I read was What I learned from six months of GMO
research: None of it matters by Nathanael Johnson published on January 9th of last year 2014
by the Grist news organization. The organization he works for reports news about many
different topics that are controversial in the US such as Food, Politics, and Justice etc. In
the specific article I read from Johnson What I learned from six months of GMO research:
None of it matters Johnson speaks about genetically modified foods. He says there is a huge
controversy between naturally gown plants and genetically modified plants (GMOs). He says
the argument is always going to exist because, there are always going to be those people who
think that the chemicals that they out on some plants will help the plants grow without insects
or weeds infecting it. And there are people that will always think that the chemicals they put
on plants affects the plants itself. The author does not show he is bias because he is showing
both arguments and how they could both be valid. Somethings that diminish his creditability
in my opinion are that he shows that he does not think this is a serious issue. He states
bleatingly In the tittle that wasting time on investigating this issue is pointless. Why would
readers want o read his article if that is how it is presented. Also, on the page that the article
is displayed there is some commercial sponsorship. Though he has a lot of credibility by who
he is sponsored by, the commercial sponsorship lowers his credibility.
The second article I read was Golden Rice: Fools gold or golden opportunity? also
By Johnson published by Grist News organization on august 29th of 2013. In this article
Johnson speaks on how golden rice is helping malnourished families in Asia. This article is

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also published on the Grist news website and the same credentials from the organization
apply. In the article he interview many different scientists such as Alexander J. Stein, an
agricultural economist at the International Food Policy Research Institute and Richard
Jefferson, an open source biologist and deep thinker who runs an independent lab bent on
democratizing and decentralizing science. This aspect shows that this a creditable source
because different people with higher credentials than him have contributed to this article and
gave their own opinion about the Golden rice in general. Johnson in this article shows no
bias because he states his opinion as well as he has professionals in the field to back up his
solid view point on the Golden Rice. The only thing again that lowers his credibility is the
commercial ads that are on the side of the article. In a professional journal these would not
exist but I would still view this article as a sound/ solid source that I could reference in my
research. In this article it was good to see that he did not take and stance saying that the issue
should not be a pressing concern. This article would be a better source than the last.
Lastly, the last article I read by Johnson was Is genetic engineering a doomed effort
to reinvent natures wheel? published on December 13th of 2013. This article is also
published on the Grist news website. In this article the author Johnson talks about the
controversy on how genetically modified foods can get the best bang for our buck. He says
that with some genetically modified foods would allow is to produce foods with less water
sunlight and less fertilizer. In this article he yet again uses outside sources from people that
have higher credentials than him to back up his view point. He still does not take a side or a
stance on the issue. He presents his information as pure facts. By the article being posted on
the news website who published his work it shows his own credibility as a writer to be
published alone. In this last article there is also the commercial sponsorship like the other
two articles which still discredits the author and the publisher but all in all it could still be
used as a valid source.

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In conclusion, not every online article is a creditable source. A creditable author

always has other creditable sources that they cite, they often have educational/experiential
credentials themselves, and the publisher always has a direct reason for publishing the article
underneath their site. Johnson is a creditable author because he consistently shows his readers
that he is very knowledgeable on the topics that he writes about. In every article that I have
ready by him he always has a professional comment on the situation at hand and he relates it
to his own viewpoints. Also, he is published by a news site. News sites do not want just
anyone writing to people about certain things. They want people that have experience and
people that can back up their viewpoints. If we ready articles form authors that dont have
these qualities then our research in the end will be questionable. Why waste our time doing
that.

References

Johnson, N. (2013, August 29). Golden Rice: Fools gold or golden opportunity?
Grist. Retrieved from http://grist.org/food/golden-rice-fools-gold-or-golden-opportunityn
Johnson, N. (2013, December 9). Is genetic engineering a doomed effort to reinvent
natures wheel? Grist Retrieved from http://grist.org/food/is-genetic-engineering-a-doomedeffort-to-reinvent-natures-wheel/
Johnson, N. (2014, January 9). What I learned from six months of GMO research:
None of it matters | Grist. Retrieved from http://grist.org/food/what-i-learned-from-sixmonths-of-gmo-research-none-of-it-matters/

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