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Create a new entry using Blogger. Choose an online news
article published by Time, The New York Times, or The Huffington Post and track
its cited sources. Visit each source online and evaluate its credibility based
on the guidelines set in Criteria to Evaluate
the Credibility of WWW Resources. Draft a blog post that briefly states a
potential impact of unrestricted web publishing through mass media as it
relates to this article.
Overview
The Friday, 4 July Time article “Hurricane Arthur Heads Northeast, Brings July 4 Travel Chaos” by P. Nash Jenkins (with additional reporting by Jay Newton-Small) includes references to eleven different sources as well as information from a local news channel web page that is not explicitly noted as a source.
Two references to
other news agencies:
- “the Associated Press reports” (para. 5)
- “CNN reports” (para. 5)
Five references to
organizations or unnamed experts/authorities
- “the National Weather Service said” (para. 2)
- “Authorities warned” (para. 2)
- “with meteorologists anticipating” (para. 4)
- “state authorities warned of…” (para. 12)
- “Tourism officials in North Carolina” (para. 12)
Four individuals (witnesses)—one
unnamed, one listed by first name only
- quote from delayed passenger Taylor Laub (para. 7)
- description of and quote from delayed passenger David Luterman (para. 9, 11)
- quote from “Jeff, the night manager of the Nags Head Inn” (no last name given)
- quote from “an employee at a Harris Teeter grocery store in the beach town of Kitty Hawk” (para. 17)
Source credibility
The article also includes hyperlinked texts that connects readers with three external web pages: a National Weather Service page, a CNN.com article, and a report from a local news channel. These three pages share traits that are suggestive of credibility, as noted in the George Mason University web evaulation guide "Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of WWW Resources":
- they are affiliated with credible parent institutions (a government agency and two news organizations)
- they are current, with functional links
- the topic is not so involved that print resources are required to provide balance or that the subject cannot be fully covered with web sources
However, only the CNN article lists authors, so it is impossible to comment on the credentials, experience, or reputation for credibility of the writers of the other two sources. It is likewise impossible to verify the authors' professionalism with evidence of peer-reviewed publications.
Potential impact of unrestricted web publishing
Web publishing is unrestricted in that anyone with access to a web-enabled computer or mobile device can create and share content without first gaining the approval of gatekeepers associated with traditional media (peer review, editors, reviewers, fact-checkers, publishers, etc.). When traditional news media have a digital presence in the form of a web page or mobile app, they typically continue the same time-tested verification and sourcing techniques of their print forms, and the ability to directly link their articles to external sources provides an additional form of credibility that is simply not possible in print media.
Potential problems of an unrestricted publishing environment include that it may blur the ethical boundaries of writers not well-versed in traditional journalism techniques, it may create the public perception of quality in web sources that do not merit such respect (or, conversely, it may dilute users' expectations about the quality of news reporting from legitimate news agencies with an online presence), and it may undermine the quality and credibility of intellectual discourse through the blending of authoritative content (such as news articles themselves) with unmoderated or partially-moderated commentary sections in which user-generated content finds its way onto the same page as a professional work of journalism.
On the other hand, it is also possible that citizen journalists, bloggers, Twitterheads, and social media devotees may be positively influenced by the more formal style and balanced perspectives offered by online versions of traditional media or more reputable blogs, information apps, and news feeds.
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References
Jenkins, P.N. (2014, July 4). Hurricane Arthur heads
northeast, brings July 4 travel chaos. Time.com. Retrived from http://time.com/2956098/hurricane-arthur-landfall-north-carolina/
Post-tropical storm Arthur Forecast Discussion. (2014, July 4). National Weather Service. Retrieved from http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT1+shtml/040301.shtml
