Media plays an important part in our life, providing us with different viewpoints and pieces that provoke various perspectives on the same issue. Editorials depict a certain opinion on a specific issue or phenomenon. News stories, on the other hand, are quite neutral and provide data without personal commentary. The striking contrast between the two kinds of sources is what may influence one’s viewpoint on a topic.
In the following research, two sources will be thoroughly reviewed. The first one, What Will Our Covid Future Be Like? Here Are Two Signs to Look Out Foris an editorial, for it provides a specific viewpoint of the author. This opinion is based on the information he had collected as an epidemiologist. The second article, Another Covid Surge May Be Coming. Are We Ready For It? is a news source, for it provides data on the topic, without supplying it with a personal viewpoint or expecting the audience to think a certain way.
Before reading the two articles, I noticed that the first one is specifically marked as an opinion piece, while the second one isn’t. However, as mentioned before, the author of the editorial is an epidemiologist, so I find his viewpoint to be quite valuable. The first article gives me the impression that I will be provided with a prognosis that may most likely come true, given the writer’s background. The second, however, prepares me for a number of facts presented in a neutral manner, giving me the opportunity to perceive the information as I see fit.
The first article starts with questioning whether the decrease in demand for hospitals and the number of cases is a good sign or a bad one. The writer reviews the possible nature of COVID-19 when it will become endemic. I find the argument to be presented rationally, as the writer successfully finds the balance between an optimistic and pessimistic attitude (Shaman, 2022). The concern is validated by the yearly 12-52 000 death toll (CDC, 2022). Moreover, he acknowledges the lack of certainty in some of the aspects of the topic. Shaman is targeting a general audience, while accentuating the importance of this issue for more vulnerable individuals, such as the elderly. He does not aim to be sensationalistic whatsoever, as he provides an unbiased perspective on the issue. The only ideological perspective that may be seen is raising awareness of the disease.
The second article is a news story that depicts the probability of a new strain of COVID. Primarily, the claim of the article is that the abolishment of strict mandates may trigger a new surge and negatively affect the vulnerable parts of the population. The article lacks personal bias, as it provides opinions of various doctors and other specialists working within the field of medicine (Mueller, 2022). It mentions the measures taken by pharmaceutical companies as well (New York Times, 2022); (New York Times, 2022). Thus, it is objectively written, as it presents the gathered information in a neutral way.
A peer-reviewed article, also known as a scholarly article, is a work that depicts one’s scholarly research, assessment or ideas. It is usually left for other specialists within the same field to review it and provide their opinion on the piece. That way, they can ensure that it is written properly and is of high scientific quality. Moreover, this kind of assessment guarantees that a certain work is scientifically valid, thus, making it useful for further research on the topic being depicted.
To review the issue I depicted, I found a source published in a peer-reviewed journal called Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) called COVID-19 therapeutics: Challenges and directions for the future. This article depicts not only the impact of COVID-19 on the world, but the necessary measures for further treatment of the virus as well. The article states that the vaccine response and therapeutics have improved greatly (Robinson et al, 2022). However, it acknowledges that the needs are increasing and becoming more complicated. This, in turn, leads to the demand for more effective medicine.
According to the article, the nature of research is predominantly empiric, in spite of the well-developed knowledge of inflammatory processes and biology. Thus, the writers state that the therapeutics need to be more specifically targeted and there needs to be a broader perspective on COVID (Robinson et al, 2022). The data is concluded by the need to follow a certain pathway to avoid wasting funds and taking an impractical approach to the issue.
This article has given me an idea of how COVID may be treated in the near future, given the fact that previous attempts lacked certainty and only targeted those who were the most severely affected by it. I find the statistics and data provided in the work to be rather helpful in understanding the depicted issue. While the article does provide an opinion on the future of COVID therapeutics, it cites over 100 sources to validate the perspective (Robinson et al, 2022). Thus, one may receive a thoroughly researched portrayal of the depicted issue.
In conclusion, I have reviewed two sources and a peer-reviewed article for the research. The first one is an editorial provided by an epidemiologist who depicts the future of COVID. The second one is a news story that discusses the risks of a new strain that may take place in the near future due to the weakened measures against the virus. The former depicts the author’s opinion, which is why it is an editorial. The latter, on the other hand, lacks a personal viewpoint, thus, making it a news story. Peer-reviewed articles are scientifically validated sources that provide a more thorough perspective on a topic. The article I reviewed depicts the future of COVID-19 therapeutics, thus giving me a better understanding of my topic.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.) Disease Burden of Flu.
LaFraniere, S. (2022) Pfizer and BioNTech seek authorization of a second booster shot for older Americans. The New York Times.
LaFraniere, S. (2022) Moderna asks the FDA for authorization for a second booster for older adults. The New York Times.
Mueller, B. (2022) Another COVID surge may be coming. Are we ready for it? The New York Times.
Robinson, P. C., Liew, D. F., Tanner, H. L., Grainger, J. R., Dwek, R. A., Reisler, R. B.,… & Zitzmann, N. (2022). COVID-19 therapeutics: Challenges and directions for the future. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(15), e2119893119.
Shaman, J. (2022) What will our COVID future be like? Here are two signs to look out for. The New York Times.