The reason I check an author’s background FIRST – and sometimes ONLY – is I need to determine:

The reason I check an author’s background FIRST – and sometimes ONLY – is I need to determine:

Are they presenting in good faith?

Researching just now “Good Faith” I discovered:
“bona fides is synonymous with credentials and identity”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_faith

In hot-button political topics, “bida fides” cannot be assumed