The Journalist’s Toolbox – Web as Fact-Finding Tool

1. The Journalist’s Toolbox – Web as Fact-Finding Tool

2. Read for Next Week • Read & Study Chapt. 8 of your book – Editing for Legal and Ethical Issues This is the topic for next week’s lectures – bring in questions and be ready for discussion.

3. Search engines are very fastand powerful, but very dumb • Google is a Web catalog that groups things by popularity (how often someone visits that site) which has both advantages and disadvantages. • What might those be? • Popularity does not always stand for quality.

4. Search engines are very fastand powerful, but very dumb • Yahoo is another type of search engine that involves directories. • Actual people look at the meaning of documents and group them. • Yahoo, founded by two Stanford students,  began this back in the mid-90s. • Yahoo sends out spiders that go through the Web, collect information and then send it back.

5. Search engines are very fastand powerful, but very dumb • Meta-search engines • They look at search engines. • Because different search engines look at different parts of the Web. • A single engine probably covers only 10 percent of what is out there. (Name one.) • One is Dogpile.

6. Search engines are very fastand powerful, but very dumb • It is always a good idea to use different search engines • And at least one meta-search engine • Especially if you don't know a lot about your subject. • You also need to explore the Deep Web. • What might that be? • The kind of information on databases on the Web that search engines often do not enter.

7. Two dilemmas of using the Internet for reporting and research: • Dilemma A: The ease of locating information on the Internet • The Web is attractive because: • Much good and useful info has migrated there • Info is fast to locate • Many sources are free • It’s relatively easy to do research

8. Two dilemmas • The Web is unattractive because: • Much bad and unuseful info has migrated there • Much deceptive and incorrect data exists there

9. Two dilemmas • Clone site

10. Create your own directory • Savvy reporters • Savvy editors • Savvy researchers • Evaluate and create a directory of reliable Web sources for research and fact finding

11. Tips on Evaluating Information found on the Web • Red Flags • Is it a “personal” page • A lack of contact info on the site • E-mail contact only • Spelling and grammatical errors • No evidence of recent activity • Outdated look and feel • Outlandish or peculiar claims

12. Tips on Evaluating Information found on the Web • Reassuring Signs • Complete contact info • An “About Us” link • Elegant, intuitive design • Indication of timeliness • Back-up claims • Philosophies, approaches, methodologies outlined

13. Two dilemmas • Dilemma B: The ease of locating already written news accounts on the Internet. • Another unattractive thing about the Web: • Reporters can overly rely on it and ignore the paper trail and face-to-faces with sources.

14. Two dilemmas • Another early concern was whether online reporters would be able to do quality investigative work. • On one hand, there is still much shovelware out there. (What is that?) • On the other hand, there are many examples of good investigative work online.

15. Two dilemmas • In fact, online sites may be the better medium for investigative reporting because: • Print and broadcast have cut back on the amount of such reporting. • Sites can build a reputation and brand name with such reporting. • Online can provide continuous coverage • Online has multi-media capabilities. • Online has no space constraints

16. One final distinction • One survey found the medium defined the reporter’s sense of her or his function. • Print journalists saw themselves as serving an interpretive or adversarial function • Online journalists saw their function as populist mobilizer: (What might that mean?) • Letting the public express views. • Setting the political agenda.

17. Cops catch theft team • Gainesville Police Department officers caught a team of two burglars Thursday. • Jamie Moodie, 24, and Greg Laughton Baldwin, 21, were arrested for breaking into two apartments and stealing items totaling $2,312, according to police reports. • Moodie entered a Boardwalk apartment, located at 2701 SW 13th St., on Aug. 28 through an unlocked sliding glass door. • Moodie then stole two white leather purses containing $300 and a Motorola cell phone worth $250.

18. Cops catch theft team • The second residence, an apartment in The Landings, located at 3801 SW 13th St., was entered through a bedroom window. This burglary occurred on the night of Sept. 16. • Moodie stood as a lookout for Baldwin as he entered the bedroom and stole jewelry, X-Box games, an XBox game controller and 35 DVD movies, which he put in a stolen black Reebok duffle bag.

19. Cops catch theft team • Moodie became a suspect when he sold six DVD movies soon after the second burglary to Hear Again CDs, 818 W University Ave. • Both men were interviewed by GPD to determine their involvement in other burglaries that have occurred in the city. • Baldwin and Moodie admitted to committing both burglaries and stealing the personal property that was inside the residences after the arrest.

20. Read for Next Week • Read & Study Chapt. 8 of your book – Editing for Legal and Ethical Issues This is the topic for next week’s lectures – bring in questions and be ready for discussion.