Evaluation of New York Times Stories

As I scrolled through the Health and Science sections of the New York Times I noticed that the same stories kept popping up, but the articles were written in different contexts. The zika virus, the water crisis in Michigan, and the discovery of a new planet were all breaking headlines.

The article, "Ninth Planet May Exist Beyond Pluto, Scientists Report" by Kenneth Chang explores the possibility of an undiscovered planet in our solar system.

NASA "Montagem Sistema Solar" 01-31-13 via WikiMedia Commons
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• The main characters of the article were astronomers Micheal E. Brown and Konstantin Batygin. They are the two responsible for providing the public with circumstantial evidence regarding a ninth planet. 
• The main setting of this story may or may not reside beyond Pluto. Essentially the article dealt with a hypothetical setting until the existence of this "planet" can actually be proved. 
• The main debate or disagreement in this article pertains to whether or not a ninth planet exists. Some agree with Brown and Batygin while others need more proof since the evidence that the two astronomers put out was more speculation. Brown and Batygin put their reputations and careers on-the-line for evidence that is more speculation than evidential.  

The article, "When the Water Turned Brown" by Abby Goodnough,  Monica Davey, and Mitch Smith explained the cause of Michigan's state of emergency.

• The main character or protagonist of the article was Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a local pediatrician, who is partly responsible for bringing to light the contaminated water problem in Flint, Michigan.
• The article is centered in Flint, Michigan. The elevated blood lead levels in Dr. Mina Hanna-Attisha's patients led her to conclude that there was a problem with the water supply. Since this is a problem only centered in Flint, the setting of this article is very important. 
• The article touches on the discrepancy between a health official, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, and the state government. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha came out with a public news conference in which she announced her findings. The state government/officials as well as a variety of epidemiologists denied her remarks until they could no longer do so. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attish put her career and pride on the line, while the state government's public denial gave the people something to worry about.  

ClkerFreeVectorImages, "Water Sign Non potable Not For Drinking" 04-02-12 via Pixabay
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