Here’s what I like about Amy Harmon’s New York Times story: It’s very nicely written, nicely organized, and it spins a wonderful narrative. As is often the case with fiction and only rarely the case with journalism, we read on because we want to know what happens next in Ricke Kress’s battle to save oranges from the disease known as citrus greening.
The problem with the story is that we see far too much through Kress’s eyes. Only a handful of others are quoted, and then only briefly. (I counted six others, but I could have missed one or two.) Many quotes, such as the one Revkin likes, are given to us anonymously. I don’t understand why Harmon didn’t identify these folks. Consider this exchange;
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“The public will never drink G.M.O. orange juice,” one grower said at a contentious 2008 meeting. “It’s a waste of our money.”
It would have been nice to know who these people are, and to hear a bit more–a good bit more–about why they feel the way they do.
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Read the full, original story here: Something is missing in Amy Harmon’s story on genetically engineered oranges
