Jane

Tharaphi

Kendra

Rachel

Christy

Chris

Perfect Drugs: Media Critiques

Locate at least two mass-media sources (for example, TV programs or advertisements, radio programs or ads, documentary films or infomercials, newspaper articles or ads, magazine articles or ads, websites) that treat the same controversial biomedical topic. In a paper of four to six pages (1200-1800 words) compare, contrast, analyze, and evaluate ways these sources present the topic. Address points such as the following:

• How much information is conveyed, and how accurate is this information?
  
• What audience is apparently addressed, and how much prior knowledge is assumed?
  
• How do the words and images of a source convey messages beyond its surface meaning?
  
• What are the implicit assumptions of the source? About biotechnical progress? About human perfection? About people's needs and wants?
  
• What, if anything, is being sold to the audience, or what else seems to be motivating the author of the source?
  
• How credible are these sources, and which of the sources examined is the most credible?