Looking at Editorials

Chosen Editorials: 
Silencing Scientists - The New York Times
Más severidad con los conductores homicidas - El Nuevo Día
Dawn of a Revolution in Healthcare - The New York Times
Cruelty and the crowd: beheading videos on Facebook - The Guardian

Although all four chosen editorials were very interesting to me on a personal level in different aspects of my life and I liked them all, the one I liked the most was "Silencing Scientists" by Verlyn Klinkenborg in The New York Times published on September 21, 2013. I chose this editorial because it expressed information that I had no knowledge about in a very concise and organized manner. Compared to the other editorials, that were topics I knew and already had an opinion about this one was a topic that I knew in a context I had no clue about. Like many others I have no idea what goes on in Canada other than a lot of cold and this editorial presents a possible reason why.

The editorial expressed the situation in Canada where the government is strongly restricting the communication of scientists with the their peers and the public in general. The situation is such that journalists cannot reach the government scientists and there are even protests being done against these measures. The author expresses the importance of open communication in science as a key measure to its betterment and how badly the situation affects society. The author seems very well informed on the subject citing when and how the situation started and how it has become worse over time, he compares the situation to one in the US so the reader can better understand what is being said. He uses a formal, almost objective language free from emotions until the last two concluding paragraphs where more emotive phrases are used to express his concern, passion and almost desperation while facing this situation.

"Now the government is doing all it can to monitor and restrict the flow of scientific information"

"This is more than an attack on academic freedom. It is an attempt to guarantee public ignorance"

"To all the other kinds of pollution the tar sands will yield, we must now add another: the degradation of vital streams of research and information."

This quotes in addition  to the summary provided above give a general idea of how what the author intended to present with the editorial. As someone very invested in science the restriction of information seems as devastating, if not more than to the author. I have seen first hand how important publications, free communication and conferences are to the scientific community. What shocked me even more was recently reading a publication funded by Canadian institutions that spoke about brain microbiology, an area of research rarely discussed or seen in American publications. This made me question if with restrictions this fascinating information leaked through, what else are the Canadian scientists investigating and accomplishing that we are ignorant about

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