Unrestricted Web Publishing

On April 16, 2014, Time.com published the article “Heart Attacks, Strokes Related to Type 2 Diabetes Drop Dramatically.”  The author, Alexandra Sifferlin, cites a 20 year study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found a sharp decline in diabetes-related complications.  

Using the “Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of WWW Resources,” one can interpret the reliability and trustworthiness of this article.  This reference document asks such questions as:

• Is there any evidence that the author of the Web information has some authority in the field about which she or he is providing information?

• With what organization or institution is the author associated?

• On what kind of Web site doe the information appear?

First, the author can be examined.  Time.com lists Alexandra a health writer who graduated from the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism and has written over 79 page results of articles since February 2012.  She also has a Twitter account that boasts 5,473 followers.  However, I’m not sure if Alexandra has a background in a health-related field or not.  And although she has written many articles, I did not see any before 2012, which would make me believe she is still relatively new to the field (or just the Time publication).

Next, we can examine The New England Journal of Medicine, the publishers of the study.  This journal is 202 years old.  It claims to be the “oldest continuously published medical periodical” (The New England Journal of Medicine) with over 600,000 readers in 177 countries.  The New England Journal of Medicine also received the Polk Award for journalism merit in 1978.  This seems to be respectable source of information.  However, in reviewing the journal’s website, I did notice that this study was published on their website on April 17, 2014, yet a story was written about it on Time.com one day earlier.

Lastly, we can review the study’s lead author, Edward W. Gregg, senior epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Edward has earned a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D., and has over 12 years of work experience relating directly to diabetes.  He has received over a dozen recognition awards and written 187 papers and publications.  I would say that Edward is an expert regarding the diabetes disease.

Overall, all the sources provided in this article appear to reliable and creditable sources for the topic of diabetes.

In reviewing this article and researching the sources used, it makes you consider what would happen if there had been unrestricted publishing of this article through mass media.  If Alexandra Sifferlin had not backed up her reporting by citing the publisher of the study and the lead study author, her account of the reduction of diabetes-related complications could be inaccurate and not dependable.  Readers would wonder how she was drawing her conclusions.   Her unsupported information, once released, could quickly spread across mass media, leading to many inaccurate reports in no time.  Instead, Alexandra decided to go right to the source for the accurate information.  

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Montecino, V.  (1998).  Criteria to evaluate the credibility of WWW resources.  Retrieved from http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/web-eval-sites.htm.

Sifferlin, A.  (2014, April 16).  Heart attacks, strokes related to type 2 diabetes drop dramatically.  Time.  Retrieved from http://time.com/65830/heart-attacks-strokes-related-to-type-2-diabetes-drop-dramatically/.

The New England Journal of Medicine.  (2014).  About NEJM - Past and Present.  Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/page/about-nejm/history-and-mission. 

Social Media and Truth

Most of the news information that I consume is through social media or magazine publications. On Facebook, I follow CNN Breaking News, WHDH (a Boston television news channel), and a local newspaper. Today I learned via Facebook that a man’s car rear-ended into a Watertown, Massachusetts Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant. The source was the local Boston television news channel WHDH. Because of the news channel’s authority in Boston, I feel that I can rely on that channel to provide important and accurate news. However, I do find fault in the story. The brief story only talks with the man who’s car damaged the restaurant. This man says that a woman was not paying attention when her car collided with his car. To make the story appear more fair, the reporter could have attempted to speak with the other driver or any possible witnesses. As the story is, it seems a bit biased and one-sided. 

Social media can be positive in how quickly it allows you to obtain news. You can learn of happenings through reputable sources or via word-to-worth. Information learned from other individuals may not be as accurate. When you played the game telephone as a child, you discovered that the story could become altered as it was told to person after person. Social media news may not be as credible if users are writing the information in an update (using their own words) rather than sharing the original writer’s content. If you decide to follow reputable news sources, such as WHDH, it does not mean that the news is 100% accurate. In the case of breaking news, reporters may apply the journalism of assertion method, which “puts the highest value on immediacy and volume,” (Kovach & Rosenteil, 2010, p. 34). The station wants to be the first one to report the breaking news and in doing so, they may not report accurate information. In other times, there might be a news report on a recent invention at MIT. Because these stories are not as time-sensitive, reporters can further develop the story so that it is complete. In the Dunkin’ Donuts incident above, the story does not mention any citations that the second driver may have received. The story leaves questions to be answered. A story that leaves the reader questioning, such as what happened to the other driver, is not a credible source because they are not providing the entire story. 
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Kovach, B., & Rosensteil, T. (2010). Blur - How to know what’s true in the age of information overload. New York: Bloomsbury USA.

Social Media Habits

New media is the form "of communicating in the digital world, which includes publishing on CDs, DVDs, and most significantly, over the Internet," (PC Magazine).  On a daily basis, most people consume new media.  Personally, the Internet is something that is used daily, from accessing coursework to using social media for personal and professional reasons.  Having the responsibility of my firm’s corporate LinkedIn page, I must update it frequently and respond to follower interactions.  I also personally follow pages, such as the Boston Business Journal, that allow me to gather news and events that can be useful to my firm’s attorneys.  I also check Facebook at least once a day to keep up-to-date with friends and relatives.

New social media has allowed the access of news events at a faster pace.  Just yesterday, there was an unfortunate shooting incident in Fort Hood, Texas.  CNN Breaking News sent out many news briefs about the incident as the details were still being made available.  It is great to have this information available so quickly but not if the report is inaccurate, which could lead to unnecessary panic in certain situations.  By sending out multiple messages as the event was unfolding, as CNN did, it does portray the media source as reliable, current, knowledgeable, and trustworthy.  People can learn to depend on certain sources to keep them updated on what is happening in the country and around the world.

New social media also allows you to follow people and companies on a daily basis.  Friends can invite you to a party through social media.  You can also learn of events, such as mud runs or painting parties, through friends that are hosting or attending the events and promoting it through social media.  You can follow companies, such as Mazda or Johnson & Johnson.  If the company needs to recall a product, you might learn about it through social media before you hear it on the news or are notified through a mailing.  You can also comment on the recall announcement or ask a question that would hopefully be answered.  The news can also be shared instantly with your friends and family, allowing the company to reach a far greater audience.  These are ways that new media allow users to interact in positive ways, gaining access to information a faster pace than is available in traditional media.

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New media.  (n.d.).  In PC Magazine.  Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/47936/new-media.