CharlamaineDuvet

For the last assignment of this unit, our instructions were to find a viral story using Buzzsumo as a primary source. Essentially, we had to fact-check our way through the article to check for validity. Considering there are several stories about cancer, I had to look one up related to it. (Although the textbook included a cancer story, I decided to go with another one). After searching for a while, I came across this one named 'Disturbing': weedkiller ingredient tied to cancer found in 80% of US urine samples. Naturally, my curiosity was piqued, and I clicked on the article.

It led me to a page by the Guardian, posted on July 9th, 2022. In the article, Carey Gillam wrote about a study done by the CDC, "a controversial ingredient found in weedkillers including popular Roundup brand, present in samples" (Gillam, 2022). After perusing the journal, she references a bunch of other studies, including one based on a study from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and a scientific paper by Environ Health about exposing humans to glyphosate. 

So far, it sounds as though this article is legitimate. There are many references to trustworthy sources like the CDC, the National Library of Medicine, and UC San Diego Health, but what interested me the most was that the article is co-published with The New Lede, a journalism project of EWG (the Environmental Working Group).

For my sanity, I checked to see if they were legitimate sites, despite The New Lede and EWG being .org websites.

I followed the same method I did with previous websites by typing in "ewg.org -site:ewg.org" and "thenewlede.org -site:thenewlede.org." Both results led me to their Twitter and Carey Gillam's Facebook.

Like many Americans, I had mixed feelings about President Biden's tweet last week stating that the pandemic is over. Sure, the COVID guidelines we have now indicate that it is less prevalent than it was before. However, other health experts seem to say otherwise. Dr. Megan Ranney believes that "the pandemic is different…but over?! With 400 deaths a day?! I call malarkey" (2022). Her claims echoed in my head as I wondered if she was credible enough.

For context, here is the tweet:

I started perusing her profile and saw her tweets or retweets about COVID-19-related subjects or vaccines. Dr. Renney has various titles in her shape, such as Academic Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, ER Doctor for Brown ER, the Director of Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health, and the Cofounder of AFFIRM at the Aspen Institute. She is an MD/Master of Public Health.

Searching her up on Google led me to her profile on Brown University's page. Dr. Renney wrote 120 publications and was acknowledged for 21 awards - some from well-known medical schools like the American College of Emergency Physicians. Although most of her research revolves around adolescents' mental health, she has researched topics like public health for emergency medicine. After digging more, I found an article from Brown University dated March 3, 2022, about Dr. Renney's conference. In it, she talks about the effects of COVID and public health, how it affects health care workers and providers, and urges Americans to "think bigger and do more" (Borsa-Curran, 2022).

Trying to find and fact-check viral images I didn't already know was trickier than it seemed. However, I found one I've yet to see, the stingray viral photobomb of 2012. For this assignment, I did a similar research method for fact-checking articles, except I used it for pictures. The stingray photobomb photo appeared fake since you rarely hear about stingray stories, especially during a cruise. So, I proceeded to search for the photo's origins. 

I first found an article talking about the same viral image. Naturally, I clicked on it and searched for the name Kendall Harlan. It took me straight to the paragraph naming the three women in the picture, and it mentioned where this picture took place. So, I opened another tab and searched for all three women with the extra words stingray and the Cayman Islands. The search led to several articles with those titles, but I clicked on the New York Daily News - it had a close date to when they took the picture. 

I read through the article and saw that after they took the picture, they posted it on Reddit, and "it went viral" (Walsh, 2012). So, Reddit was the next stop. I used the same terms for past searches and found the exact picture from 2012. To ensure there was no misleading information, I returned to the first article page, The New Yorker, and found out that Sarah and her friends also interviewed The Huffington Post about this endeavor. I clicked on the link, read through the entire article, and everything seemed to match up with the rest of what I found.

There were a lot of articles regarding COVID-19 back when the pandemic first began. While some were informational and warned you of its symptoms and the proper way to quarantine and reduce its spread, others popped up in your Twitter or Chrome feed that you can't help but wonder if it's real. That's how I felt when I came across this post on Instagram regarding the vaccine's effectiveness. For the sake of not losing my sanity, here is the link to that post: https://perma.cc/BD8G-WW5M

Judging by who was involved in this post, I had to fact-check his claims. Despite my better judgment, I went ahead and went straight to FactCheck.org. Soon after, I searched the words "David Harris Jr. Coronavirus Vaccines" and found the article that disproved his claims instantly. Widespread Claims Misrepresent Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccines includes details, facts, and other information necessary to debunk Harris's claims about how vaccines are ineffective.