The story I decided to review can be found here:
I decided to look into this story simply because its
content caught my eye as something that we all need to be aware of since, as
you will see, even those in the industry overlook the reputation of their
sources.
This story is about Anna Kooiman, Fox News host, taking for granted information she heard of President Obama using his own funds to re-open a
Muslim museum after the government shutdown. It turns out, the story originated
from National Report – a parody news site, and can be found here:
Long Island Newsday claims that Kooiman didn’t cite a source,
but noted that National Report had posted the falsehood. The L.A. Times
comments that National Report, classified as a satirical news site, “seems more
about spreading misinformation than social critiques” (Blake, 2013).
The impact of this unrestricted web publishing is obvious –
Kooiman took the information as fact and, as a result, compromised the
credibility of herself and her news station. I was unable to find any
information on where Kooiman first learned of the information, but it would be
interesting to note how she heard of this information herself.
In my opinion, this website is classified as a new and
journalistic site – a location where “anyone can publish his or her own ‘news’
on the Web” (Montecino, 1998). However, who is to blame in this instance? Kooiman
for not checking her facts? Or the website for allowing such information to be
posted? I believe it is the fault of each party.
My father always said anyone who tells you to trust him or her
simply because he or she is a professional was lying. He used to say, “You can
be a professional nose-picker, that doesn’t mean anything.” Crude as it may be,
when it comes to web content, I believe him. It is our job as readers and consumers of media to research "any evidence that the author of the Web information has some authority in the field...[his or her] qualifications, credentials, and connections to the subject" (Montecino, 1998).
Blake, M. (2013). Fox News host sorry for false report of
Obama funding Muslim
museum. L.A. Times.
Montecino, V. (1998). Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility
of WWW Resources.
George Mason University.
Good post, Carissa. You chose a very good example about the importance of checking out our sources. It is quite disconcerting to think that a news person would pass along made up information because he or she (or those who work for him/her) didn't bother to do an even minimal check.
ReplyDeleteAs we will see this week, this reporter failed to comply with even the most basic standard of the SPJ ethical guidelines.
Good post!