On Monday, a team of German researchers found that five out of the sixteen Dead Sea scrolls from the Museum of the Bible were found to be fake. Previous researchers, especially Kipp Davis, had suspicions about seven of the scrolls authenticity. The museum is sending more over to Germany to be authenticated. It will also be labeled on the display that the scrolls are being tested. The owners of the museum are the Green family, also owners of Hobby Lobby, who refused to pay for contraceptives on health insurance for their employees.
The article does a good job using the inverted pyramid scheme giving the most important information first. The story is news because of the high prominence it has with the constant doubters it faces. I do think the last couple paragraphs about the Green family is somewhat irrelevant because it takes away the focus from the scrolls and puts it on the family. I found the article really interesting though. The amount of tests the scrolls had to go through was more immersive than I would have thought. It is smart for the museum to check their artifacts though because there can’t be any gray area.
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/23/659741484/museum-of-the-bible-says-5-of-its-most-famed-artifacts-are-fake
How does a private citizen come to own the Dead Sea scrolls? That shouldn’t happen, even if that citizen does own a museum. Most countries now have laws against removing culturally important artifacts. That’s partly why the last couple of grafs are included, but they might also suggest bias.
NPR is a good news site. It will provide lots of good models.