Letter to the Editor: Past Daily Bruin news article relies on sensationalism

Dear Editorial Board and Mr. Tadimeti,

I recently came across an article in the News section of the Daily Bruin by Keshav Tadimeti from Dec. 7 entitled “UCLA professors to be honored by AAAS for scientific research.” Despite the title, the author spent minimal amount of effort describing the research achievements of the two UCLA faculty members – professors Douglas Black and Patrick Harran – for which the American Association for the Advancement of Science actually gives its “Fellow” titles. Instead, Mr. Tadimeti decided to spend more than a half of his article describing a previous tragic accident in the laboratory of professor Patrick Harran.

I therefore find the title of his article completely misleading and furthermore question the true intent of Mr. Tadimeti’s write-up. Instead of focusing on science, Mr. Tadimeti decided to infuse his work with a dramatic story unrelated to the article’s premise, thereby fundamentally distorting the essence of the news he was supposed to report.

If one would draw an analogy, would it be always rigorously accurate when writing a news piece on Caitlyn Jenner, for example, to spend half of the narrative on her previous fatal car accident?

While sensationalist journalism is certainly valid and is quite mainstream in our daily lives with plenty of existing TMZ-like outlets, I am not convinced that Daily Bruin should go down this path.

Regards,

Alex Spokoyny

B.S. Chemistry, 2006