Evaluating Credibility (Post 3)
An evaluation on the credibility of Chris Arsenault’s Reuters article, “Brazil’s Indigenous Leaders for Amazon Land Rights as Carnival Kicks Off”.
The Gist of “Brazil’s Indigenous Leaders for Amazon Land Rights as Carnival Kicks Off”
In Chris Arsenault’s Reuters article, “Brazil’s Indigenous Leaders for Amazon Land Rights as Carnival Kicks Off,” published on February 24th 2017, he states that on the opening day of Rio de Janeiro’s famous Carnival, Brazilian indigenous leaders and members will be there to spread awareness about the long-existing land rights issue of the natives in the Amazon. Next, he discusses how Xingu, a region deep inside the Amazon, is one of the many regions that’s threatened by proposed dams, agricultural plantations, and infrastructure projects. Then, he mentions that Brazil’s government stopped a dam project last year. However, there’s still lasting fear within the Indigenous community that it’d be resurrected any time. Arsenault goes on to explain how the 900,000 indigenous people (in Brazil) only makes up less than one percent of the whole Brazilian population, and they’re more prone to poverty.
Can This Be Trusted?
This article, for the most part, is credible as the information is true and relevant after looking into another credible news source, and doing extra research on the author’s credentials to determine if he’s suited to talk about the topic. The information regarding the Brazilian government allowing foreign investments and the Amazon natives being pushed out of their homes were talked about in my other posts. I had three New York Times articles from Post 1 and Post 2 titled, “Brazilian Judge Stymies Plan to Allow Mining in Amazon Region”, “Decree Opening Brazil Amazon to Mining Comes Under Criticism”, and “The Genocide of Brazil’s Indians” to confirm those facts.
Furthermore, I checked if the article could be found on another source, and it was on a BBC News article. To have another credible news source talk about the same event and issue already adds to the validity of Arsenault’s article on Reuters. This article addresses both sides, and doesn’t have any bias. The quoted material from many indigenous leaders and people helped to support Arsenault’s arguments. The author also added statistical information regarding the population of indigenous people, provided the issue between the Brazilian government and the Amazon’s natives, and told us why the issue exists in the first place which hints that he’s knowledgeable of the topic and did great extensive research.
Author’s Credentials
Looking at the author’s credentials is one of the many ways in which a reader could determine if the author is trustworthy and reliable. On Reuters, it said he was a “Land and Property Rights Correspondent” for them. They also revealed that he “covers land and resource issues for the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.” I did some cross referencing on other websites to find out if it’s true.
On his profile in Pulitzer Center, it says that he’s “a Canadian journalist with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.” His profile revealed that he’s an experienced reporter. Besides Brazil, he has reported in Venezuela, Mexico, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Guatemala. Being a reporter wasn’t his only job, he was also a senior producer for Al Jazeera English too. I On Al Jazeera, I checked and confirmed that he was the senior producer for them. Not only was this information on Al Jazeera, but on Pulitzer Center and Reuters as well.
Moreover, in Pulitzer Center it states he “held the Wolfson Press Fellowship at Cambridge University” and the “Phil Lind Fellowship at the University of British Columbia’s department of history.” Both fellowships had something to do with the role of media in democratic governance and addressing global issues, and this information boosts his credibility. In addition, in all of his profiles his credentials remained consistent and that lets the audience know that he’s suited to speak of this topic and is a dependable source. Lastly, to be recognized by Pulitzer means a lot because it’s about excellence in the field of journalism.
Works Cited
Arsenault, Chris. “Brazil’s Indigenous Leaders Push for Amazon Land Rights as Carnival Kicks Off.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 24 Feb. 2017, www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-carnival-landrights/brazils-indigenous-leaders-push-for-amazon-land-rights-as-carnival-kicks-off-idUSKBN16328W.
“Chris Arsenault.” Al Jazeera, www.aljazeera.com/profile/chris-arsenault.html.
“Chris Arsenault.” Pulitzer Center, pulitzercenter.org/people/chris-arsenault.
Foundation, Thomson Reuters. “Chris Arsenault.” Thomson Reuters Foundation News, news.trust.org/profile/?id=003D000001bJztOIAS.
“Rio Carnival: Samba School Tackles Mining Disaster.” BBC News, BBC, 28 Feb. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39117689.