Not a Bad Start

In the spirit of our most recent class, I chose an article that should have a similar format to the news article we worked on in class. In the article, Virus discovery called breakthrough in fight against chronic fatigue by Thomas H. Maugh II of the LA Times, Maugh reports on the recent discovery of a Virus that could possibly be a biochemical marker for identifying whether or not a patient has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. People who suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome may suffer from "debilitating fatigue, chronic pain and depression, as well as other symptoms," but doctor's have always struggled with diagnosing their patients because there has been no real, standard indicator for the disease. As of now, the information gathered on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is minimal, but the hope is that researchers can build on their findings so far.

This was my first time reading the LA Times and I wasn't thoroughly impressed by their main articles which included 2 national stories, an entertainment section, a bookstore merger story, and a Red Sox vs. Angels game. Now the article I chose had more redeeming features. It was very well put together and had very credible sources that supplied the story with necessary information such as the current extent of their research, its significance, and any additional comments on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I do think more information should have been included on the 'major flaw' of the study that was mentioned but never fully addressed in the last sentence of the article.