Contacting Megan Gibson

Contacting my writer was really simple, her email was provided on her latest article. She is really nice and emailed me back right away. She wasn't quite sure exactly what to recommend me because she writes on so many different topics.

My Email:

Ms. Gibson,
My name is Elizabeth Coons. I'm a senior at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. I am currently taking an AP English Language and Copositon class. One of our assignments is to create a blog about an op-ed writer of our choice. I chose you because I enjoyed reading one of your articles.
Our latest assignment was to choose a recent article and write on how you gave a concession statement and how ou backed up your argument. then we could choose to agree or disagree. I wrote my lastest update on the digital diagnosis piece you wrote last week. http://healthland.time.com/2010/12/07/digital-diagnosis-2010-the-most-popular-health-stories-of-the-year/
This week we must attempt to contact our writers and ask a few questions. I would like to ask if you've come across any related topics since you wrote this article? And Are there any other articles you have written that you would recommmend?
Thank you for your time,
Elizabeth Coons

Her Response:

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for writing in and for reading my article.

I’d love to help out, I’m just a little unsure what you’re after. Did you want more articles that were about health or about web searches? I mainly write and report on web trends, so I have some related articles on search engines that I can recommend. Is there anything in particular you were looking for (health, tech, science—I touch a lot of topics) that would help with your project? Let me know.

Thanks again,

Megan

Medical Advice on the Web

Megan Gibson's latest post "Digital Diagnosis 2010: The Most Popular Health Stories of the Year" was centered on the fact that the online medical search sites are not being used as they were intended originally, but as more of a way to research the ailments of the rich and famous. 

Concession: "Sometimes, the frequency of Internet searches for health information can signal a brewing epidemic. That's how Google Flu Trends works, for instance — tracking flu-related searches to determine global flu activity."

Main Points

•  Researcher use online medical search engines results to track the national health issues and where they are based.
• People search the web-based medical archives according to trends and gossip.

• Web MD's data may not say much about the nations health.

She supports the claim that people use the web to research what is happening in the world of health by:

• stating that searches for "anal cancer" skyrocketed when Farrah Fawcet died after a long battle with the disease.
• "bed bugs" has been the top most searched item for almost a year
• When Micheal Douglas announced his battle with throat cancer search engines began to buzz

I agree with her claim, yes people still search for symptoms of the illness they might/ do have but over whelming today's world is caught up in what the famous people are dealing with. Many think that if the rich and famous can get cancer and die then I can too. But this also helps get awareness out about these diseases and might help diagnose a few more cases. I'm not saying that we should get all our medical information from the Internet but it is useful.

Pope's Statement Agrees with Church Standings Despite Popular Belief

http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/11/21/turns-out-the-pope-doesnt-endorse-condoms/

Today at school people were all talking about the Pope supposedly endorsing condoms. I was extremely curious to find out what the Pope had exactly said in his interview early this past weekend. Megan Gibson's latest post answered my questions.
Her post from Sunday explains that all the hype is accredited to misunderstanding the Pope's responses. The Pope does not support the use of condoms as a contraceptive, but says it might help prevent the spreading of the AIDS virus between male prostitutes and their clients.

She was quick to get this out to ensure that some of the rumors might not grow as large by fighting them with the actual facts. I agree with her, the Catholic Church does not need rumors flying around questioning important beliefs. As a Catholic I was almost appalled at the different rumors I had heard during one day at school.

• She cites a breakdown of the interview http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2032433,00.html
• "So what exactly did the Pope say about condoms? He stands by the Church's position that they should not be used for contraception but that in some situations, they may be justifiably used by male prostitutes hoping to prevent the spread of HIV"

Her rhetorical question in the above quote asks the question that the reader is hoping for an answer to. It brings focus to the answer while bringing the reader back to the reason they began reading the article in the first place. This is extremely effective.

My Op-Ed writer- Megan Gibson

Megan Gibson writes for TIME Magazine and Columbia News Service(while attending Columbia University). She is fairly new in the op-ed writing world.