3-2 Post: Unrestricted Web Publishing

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. 

Finding credible sources takes a critical eye, time, and research.  I choose to read the article, “U.N. Sees Need for $1 Billion to Fight Ebola.”  I found this article on The New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/world/africa/ebola-fight-needs-more-money-un-says.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSum&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news The New York Times is a very credible source and has been in business since 1851.  Having a news source that has been that long running is hard to come by.  We can look at The Onion which is known for its satire pieces and if consumers don’t know that, they could be misinformed and spread false information. They should do some easy research to find that out and realize they shouldn’t use that site as a reliable source.  As stated in our Module 3 readings, “no source is trustworthy until proven so” (SNHU, 2014). 

The author of this article is Nick Cumming-Bruce.  By doing some research on him; I realized he is credible because he has had many works published in The New York Times, the Guardian, the Asian Wall Street Journal, and the International Herald Tribune, all very well known and respected sources.  The article we read for class titled “Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of WWW Resources,” states that we should look to see which organization the author is with and if they have a link to an association or contact information (1998).  In this article the link to The New York Times is present and there are many ways to get in touch with the author.  By googling his name I found a website https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/nick-cumming-bruce which lists the articles he has published and provides a link to contact him.  Throughout the article there are no clues that this author is biased as he is quoting Bruce Aylward, an Assistant Director General of the World Health Organization, Valerie Amos, The United Nations’ Emergency Relief Coordinator, and Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations’ Senior System Coordinator for Ebola.  We should look to see if the author is biased, promoting a product, or taking a personal stand (1998) none of which Nick Cumming-Bruce did.  Two links that are used as sources in this article brought me to another article published by The New York Times.  The first article reads “Ebola Could Strike 20,000, World Health Agency Says.”  The other article says “U.S. to Commit Up to 3,000 Troops to Fight Ebola in Africa.”  All links should be current according to our criteria (1998) and each article from this story has been published within the last month.

Overall, based on the criteria we have learned in Module 3, these sources seem reliable. It is very believable that the U.N. would need $1 Billion to fight Ebola, as stated in the article; it is about more than just the disease but about how the countries affected are unable to provide food, water and other necessities for everyday life (Cumming-Bruce, 2014).  Like any article posted online there is always potential for unrestricted web publishing through mass media.  At the bottom of this article there is a correction stating that there was an editing error and that he misattributed a comment about the W.H.O.’s priorities.  Although to the consumer it is a minor error, the person who made the comment doesn’t receive the initial praise, or the other way around, the person who didn’t make the comment may receive criticism because many people who read the original article aren’t going to look back at it and notice a correction.  At that point the damage is done,  readers could publish to blogs and social media posts, without having all of the facts. 

References

(1988, August). Criteria to evaluate the credibility of www resources. Retrieved from http://mason.gmu.edu/ website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/web-eval-sites.htm

(Cumming-Bruce, N., 2014) U.N. sees need for $1 billion to fight ebola. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/world/africa/ebola-fight-needs-more-money-un-says.html?_r=0  

SNHU (2014) Module 3 – Overview: Finding and Sharing Information COM 510-X1509

2-3 Post: Social Media and Truth

How do you know what you know? Name one new thing you learned using a social media site today and explain why you believe it is true. What source did you use to acquire this information? At times, are social media sites reliable for obtaining credible information?

             I know what I know from word of mouth, reading, and researching.  As children, we tended to believe everything adults told us.  I think that we should teach children to respectably question things.  If they are questioning something, they should have the right to ask their teacher, or parent why they believe something is true.  I tend to think more scientifically rather than believing everything I hear or read.  I like to have data and facts, or at least evidence that points in the direction of the story.  I also like to read contrasting views to produce my own fair opinion.  Since the Internet produces so many false stories, I wonder if children will begin to not trust anything they read at first?  Today's children will become the most media literate of any generation, I wonder what the impacts of that will be on their relationships as they grow older?
             One thing I have learned today on a social media site was via Facebook and it was an article on an unidentified respiratory virus that is likely to hit kids across the country.   I do believe it is true to an extent.  I originally saw someone post the story from The Huffington Post, I did some more research and also saw the story on abc News, Fox 31 Denver. and CBS Denver. The headline sounds a lot more ominous than it could be.  The respiratory virus is likely human enterovirus 68.  I googled the virus and read some various articles that pertained to it.  Although this could potentially be a fatal virus, especially in children with Asthma, there are some measures that the CDC recommends such as basic sanitary practices. This is also a common time for viruses to spread as it is the beginning of the school year, so it is natural to see an up rise in sicknesses in children. Yes, this has potential to spread, right now it seems to be clustered in the Midwest so I think it is too early to tell what will happen.

              Social media sites are at times a reliable source for obtaining credible information but in my opinion it should not be the sole source of information.  I try to find multiple sources that have the same information but even then I don't necessarily believe what I read, I take the news with a grain of salt.  I know that like any business, the media needs to make money and by creating over the top headlines, they are likely to get more views than a source who doesn't.