Nia Lane, 02779481

The Credibility Challenge

General Questions:

  • I get information from the internet everyday and honestly, I believe the majority of it.
  • It’s not as reliable as books because books are more credible, you know research was done and a lot of hard work was put into the book.

Questions for Determining Authority: Student Handout #1

Website: http://newsbusters.org/

  1. This sites top level domain is org.
  2. This site is hosted by Drupal.

Author Questions:

  1. There are multiple authors on NewsBusters because it is a widespread blog. The president and founder of this site is L. Brent Bozell III. He received his Bachelors in history from the University of Dallas.
  2. Bozell was a columnist, author, publisher, and debater.
  3. The website is based on exposing the inconsistencies and biases of people in the media, more often than not political figures. He founded the Media Research Center, which is one of the best media watchdog companies in the country. He has also written countless books on media expertise.
  4. It is only bias because he has one motive, to expose the biases of figures in the media.
  5. The site has ten different editors, and they are ranked at different levels.

Sponsor Questions:

  1. It is funded by the CFC (Combined Federal Campaign.) Only federal employees and military personal can donate to them.
  2. They just want to expose the injustices of how popular figures are being portrayed in the media.

Exercise #1: Rank the URL

  1. http://www.random.gov
  2. http://www.columbia.edu/~jrandom
  3. http://www.random.com
  4. http://random.blogspot.com

 

Website: http://www.rc.umd.edu/

Exercise #2: Finding the Author

There is no specific editor for this website, but there are multiple editors. Most of the editors are distinguished professors from the top universities in the country. Their authorship is not restricted; essentially there is a large group who authors this site. Steven E. Jones and Neil Fraistat oversee what is placed on the site and decide what it is up to the standard to be published on the site. Every essay or article on the site tells you the author or editor, they often have an About Me section or a personal website containing a blog about themselves.

Exercise #3: The Author’s Authority

  1. There are two general editors: Neil Fraistat and Steven E. Jones. Fraistat’s highest level is a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in English. Jones is an English professor at Loyola University in Chicago, so he at least has a master’s degree.
  2. Both of the editors have written numerous publications, both of them primarily focus on Romanticism.
  3. They both know a great deal about the topics. They research it so they can write informational pieces on it. For example Fraistat is general editor and founder of “Studies in Romanticism, as well as publishing in textual studies. Jones is the author of over three books that involve humanities.
  4. The authors are just trying informing the audience about Romanticism.
  5. The site has multiple editors for different sections. For example they have one editors for auditory, but the general editors are Fraistat and Jones.

Exercise #4: Sponsorship

  • I could not locate any specific organization, but what I did find is that the University of Maryland oversees the site. Romantic Circles is published by UMD.
  • The main interest UMD has in Romantic Circles is providing information to the students that attend their university, as well as other universities.
  • They want people to know about the rich culture of the Romanticism period and be educated correctly about it.
  • No they don’t encourage authors to have a skewed presentation, they just want it to be credible and be factual.