INTERNET USAGE IN FEATURE WRITING:Be very careful, Website checklist

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Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 03

INTERNET USAGE IN FEATURE WRITING

No doubt, the Internet has become a huge and valuable source of information for most of the writers, and

people tend to use it more considering the fact that, as they say, it is just a click away. It is one of the most

easily available sources of information to almost everyone at the fastest pace, and it has become hub of

information, which is growing at a fast pace. Due to this reason, the Internet is considered to be the easiest

way of information, and in abundance, surely too.

But for quite a few professionals, it is neither the easiest one nor a straight knowledge, as there are a huge

number of issues to be tackled; otherwise the information gathered can be contentious, controversial,

prejudiced and biased because there are a lot of knowledge bases, which are making them so.

The World Wide Web offers information and data from all over the world. Because so much information

is available, and because that information can appear to be fairly "anonymous", it is necessary to develop

skills to evaluate what you find. When you use a research or academic library, the books, journals and

other resources have already been evaluated by scholars, publishers and librarians. Every resource you

find has been evaluated in one way or another before you ever see it. When you are using the World Wide

Web, none of this applies. There are no filters. Because anyone can write a Web page, documents of the

widest range of quality, written by authors of the widest range of authority, are available on an even

playing field. Excellent resources reside along side the most dubious. The Internet epitomises the concept

of Caveat lector: Let the reader beware.

However, it never means that you should not use it. There are certain issues, which must be tackled by the

journalists, especially from developing countries, like ours.

The purpose of the discussion is to making the usage of the Internet more judicious sans making it

contentious, as the gathering of the information from any dubious source or website can make the write-

up both controversial and unreliable. Hence the idea is to get the `Right kind of material from the right

sources' by clearly identifying the subject, and authenticity of the sources.

Rationale for Evaluating What You Find on the Web

The World Wide Web can be a great place to accomplish research on many topics. But putting documents

or pages on the web is easy, cheap or free, unregulated, and unmonitored. There is a famous Steiner

cartoon published in the New Yorker (July 5, 1993) with two dogs sitting before a terminal looking at a

computer screen; one says to the other 'On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.' The great wealth that

the Internet has brought to so much of society is the ability for people to express themselves, find one

another, exchange ideas, discover possible peers worldwide they never would have otherwise met, and,

through hypertext links in web pages, suggest so many other people's ideas and personalities to anyone

who comes and clicks. There are some real 'dogs' out there, but there's also great treasure.

Therein lies the rationale for evaluating carefully whatever you find on the Web. The burden is on you -

the reader - to establish the validity, authorship, timeliness, and integrity of what you find. Documents can

easily be copied and falsified or copied with omissions and errors -- intentional or accidental. In the

general World Wide Web there are no editors (unlike most print publications) to proofread and 'send it

back' or 'reject it' until it meets the standards of a publishing house's reputation. Most pages found in

general search engines for the web are self-published or published by businesses small and large with

motives to get you to buy something or believe a point of view. Even within university and library web

sites, there can be many pages that the institution does not try to oversee. The web needs to be free like

that!! And you, if you want to use it for serious research, need to cultivate the habit of healthy scepticism,

of questioning everything you find with critical thinking.

Internet as a very sophisticated propagandist

Various anti-religion and anti-Pakistan websites are there, and being a Pakistani journalist, one must

avoid those. Moreover, various groups have their own websites to propagate their own ideologies, which

has also become an `Infectious Enthusiasm' where everyone is trying to match the other. Hence it is

resulting in more biased and prejudiced material.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

On the other hand, blogs, websites are there by immaturish and biased contributors, and special interest

groups, and Non-Governmental Organisations.

Scepticism

A journalist never takes any thing for granted, as he confirms, re-confirms, the information prior to

putting it in words. In simple words he doubts everything until he is certain about that. Besides this, he

is always looking for supporting information and examples before relating it to the readers. However, the

scale for determining level of authenticity may vary from one person to another, but he never falls short

of that.

Be very careful

A journalist must be careful prior to using information regarding any government, Islam and its

injunctions, as these are primary concerns in this part of the world. There are many propaganda sites,

which are claiming to be official though difficult to know and check, but one must be certain.

Secondly, facts and data must be ascertained.

Use of journalistic filters

Is it possible?

How it can be made appear so?

Who can have ulterior motives?

Use of the common sense

It comes from within who, why, when, where and whither?

Website checklist

Authority who is doing it?

Affiliation whether connected with reputable organisation or institution

Accuracy many a time glaring mistakes

Appearance whether well-put together?

Does it make sense having such website connected to a particular institution?

Links to various websites

Is it fair in judgments?

Authorship is perhaps the major criterion used in evaluating information. Who wrote this? When we

look for information with some type of critical value, we want to know the basis of the authority with

which the author speaks. Here are some possible filters:

In your own field of study, the author is a well-known and well-regarded name you recognize.

When you find an author you do not recognize:

The author is mentioned in a positive fashion by another author or another person you trust as an

authority;

· You found or linked to the author's Web/Internet document from another document you trust;

· The Web/Internet document you are reading gives biographical information, including the author's

position, institutional affiliation and address;

· Biographical information is available by linking to another document; this enables you to judge

whether the author's credentials allow him/her to speak with authority on a given topic;

· If none of the above, there is an address and telephone number as well as an e-mail address for the

author in order to request further information on his or her work and professional background. An e-

mail address alone gives you no more information than you already have.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

The publishing body also helps evaluate any kind of document you may be reading. In the print

universe, this generally means that the author's manuscript has undergone screening in order to verify that

it meets the standards or aims of the organization that serves as publisher. This may include peer review.

On the Internet, ask the following questions to assess the role and authority of the 'publisher', which in

this case means the server (computer) where the document lives:

Is the name of any organization given on the document you are reading? Are there headers,

footers, or a distinctive watermark that show the document to be part of an official academic or

scholarly Web site? Can you contact the site Webmaster from this document?

If not, can you link to a page where such information is listed? Can you tell that it's on the same

server and in the same directory (by looking at the URL)?

Is this organization recognized in the field in which you are studying?

Is this organization suitable to address the topic at hand?

Can you ascertain the relationship of the author and the publisher/server? Was the document that

you are viewing prepared as part of the author's professional duties (and, by extension, within

his/her area of expertise)? Or is the relationship of a casual or for-fee nature, telling you nothing

about the author's credentials within an institution?

Can you verify the identity of the server where the document resides? Internet programs such

dnslookup and whois will be of help.

Does this Web page actually reside in an individual's personal Internet account, rather than being

part of an official Web site? This type of information resource should be approached with the

greatest caution. Hints on identifying personal pages are available in `understanding and

Decoding URLs'.

Point of view or bias reminds us that information is rarely neutral. Because data is used in selective ways

to form information, it generally represents a point of view. Every writer wants to prove his point, and

will use the data and information that assists him in doing so. When evaluating information found on the

Internet, it is important to examine who is providing the 'information' you are viewing, and what might be

their point of view or bias. The popularity of the Internet makes it the perfect venue for commercial and

sociopolitical publishing. These areas in particular are open to highly 'interpretative' uses of data.

Steps for evaluating point of view are based on authorship or affiliation:

First, note the URL of the document. Does this document reside on the Web server of an

organization that has a clear stake in the issue at hand?

If you are looking at a corporate Web site, assume that the information on the corporation

will present it in the most positive light.

o If you are looking at products produced and sold by that corporation, remember: you are

looking at an advertisement.

o If you are reading about a political figure at the Web site of another political party, you

are reading the opposition.

Does this document reside on the Web server of an organization that has a political or

philosophical agenda?

o If you were looking for scientific information on human genetics, would you trust a

political organization to provide it?

o Never assume that extremist points of view are always easy to detect. Some sites

promoting these views may look educational.

Many areas of research and inquiry deal with controversial questions, and often the more controversial an

issue is, the more interesting it is. When looking for information, it is always critical to remember that

everyone has an opinion. Because the structure of the Internet allows for easy self-publication, the variety

of points of view and bias will be the widest possible.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Referral to and/or knowledge of the literature refer to the context in which the author situates his

work. This reveals what the author knows about his or her discipline and its practices. This allows you to

evaluate the author's scholarship or knowledge of trends in the area under discussion. The following

criteria serve as a filter for all formats of information:

· The document includes a bibliography.

· The author alludes to or displays knowledge of related sources, with proper attribution.

· The author displays knowledge of theories, schools of thought, or techniques usually considered

appropriate in the treatment of his or her subject.

· If the author is using a new theory or technique as a basis for research, he or she discusses the

value and/or limitations of this new approach.

· If the author's treatment of the subject is controversial, he or she knows and acknowledges this.

Accuracy or verifiability of details is an important part of the evaluation process, especially when you

are reading the work of an unfamiliar author presented by an unfamiliar organization, or presented in a

non-traditional way. Criteria for evaluating accuracy include:

· For a research document, the data that was gathered and an explanation of the research method(s)

used to gather and interpret it are included.

· The methodology outlined in the document is appropriate to the topic and allows the study to be

duplicated for purposes of verification.

· The document relies on other sources that are listed in a bibliography or includes links to the

documents themselves.

· The document names individuals and/or sources that provided non- published data used in the

preparation of the study.

· The background information that was used can be verified for accuracy.

Currency refers to the timeliness of information. In printed documents, the date of publication is the first

indicator of currency. For some types of information, currency is not an issue: authorship or place in the

historical record is more important (e.g., T. S. Eliot's essays on tradition in literature). For many other

types of data, however, currency is extremely important, as is the regularity with which the data is

updated. Apply the following criteria to ascertain currency:

The document includes the date(s) at which the information was gathered.

The document refers to clearly dated information.

Where there is a need to add data or update it on a constant basis, the document includes

information on the regularity of updates.

The document includes a publication date or a 'last updated' date.

The document includes a date of copyright.

If no date is given in an electronic document, you can view the directory in which it resides and

read the date of latest modification.

If you found information using one of the search engines available on the Internet, such as AltaVista

or InfoSeek, a directory of the Internet such as Yahoo, or any of the services that rate World Wide Web

pages, you need to know:

How the search engine decides the order in which it returns information requested. Some Internet

search engines 'sell' top space to advertisers who pay them to do so.

That Internet search engines aren't like the databases found in libraries. Library databases include

subject headings, abstracts, and other evaluative information created by information professionals

to make searching more accurate. In addition, library databases index more permanent and

reliable information.

How that search engine looks for information, and how often their information is updated.

All information, whether in print or by byte, needs to be evaluated for authority, appropriateness, and

other personal criteria for value. If you find information that is 'too good to be true', it probably is. Never

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

use information that you cannot verify. Establishing and learning criteria to filter information you find on

the Internet is a good beginning for becoming a critical consumer of information in all forms. 'Cast a cold

eye' on everything you read. Question it. Look for other sources that can authenticate or corroborate what

you find. Learn to be skeptical and then learn to trust your instincts.

Search Engines

Publishers of websites think: "Search engines are the roads people travel along when using the Internet to

get places. If you're not putting out signs to capture their attention, they'll never find their way to you!

However, you can use Google, Yahoo and Microsoft more frequently.

For Directories, prefer DMOZ, Yahoo directory and about

For News sites, prefer BBC, CNN, Yahoo news, Google news and Microsoft's MS NBC

Alerts on mobiles, go for

BBC, CNN, Yahoo and Google

Archives, prefer,

CNN, BBC and newspapers many have since publication or later uploaded

For Facts, use

Wikipedia and World fact book

Evaluating web pages: Techniques to apply & questions to ask

Evaluating web pages skilfully requires you to do two things at once:

Train your eye and your fingers to employ a series of techniques that help you quickly find what you

need to know about web pages;

Train your mind to think critically, even suspiciously, by asking a series of questions that will help you

decide how much a web page is to be trusted.

Begin by looking at your search results from a search engine or other source, following through by

investigating the content of page, and extending it beyond the page to what others may say about the page

or its author(s).

1. What can the URL tell you?

1. Before you leave the list of search results before you click and get interested in anything written on

the page glean all you can from the URLs of each page.

2. Then choose pages most likely to be reliable and authentic.

Is it somebody's personal page?

Read the personal pages carefully:

Look for a personal name following a tilde (~), a percent sign (%), or the words 'users,' 'members,' or

'people.'

Is the server a commercial ISP or other provider mostly of web page hosting (like aol.com or

geocities.com

What are the implications?

Personal pages are not necessarily 'bad,' but you need to investigate the author very carefully.

For personal pages, there is no publisher or domain owner vouching for the information in the page.

What type of domain does it come from?

(Educational, non-profit, commercial, government, etc.)

Is the domain appropriate for the content?

Government sites: look for .gov, .mil, .us, or other country code

Educational sites: look for .edu

Non-profit organizations: look for .org

If from a foreign country, look at the country code and read the page to be sure, who published it.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

What are the implications?

Look for appropriateness! What kind of information source do you think is most reliable for your topic?

Is it published by an entity that makes sense?

Who 'published' the page?

In general, the publisher is the agency or person operating the 'server' computer from which the

document is issued.

The server is usually named in first portion of the URL (between http:// and the first /)

Have you heard of this entity before?

Does it correspond the name of the site? Should it?

What are the implications?

You can rely more on information that is published by the source:

Look for New York Times news from www.nytimes.com

Look for health information from any of the agencies of the National Institute of Health on sites

with nih somewhere in the domain name.

2. Scan the perimeter of the page, looking for answers to these questions:

Techniques for Web Evaluation:

1. Look for links that say, 'About us,' 'Philosophy,' 'Background,' 'Biography,' 'Who am I,' etc.

2. If you cannot find any links like these, you can often find this kind of information if you truncate back

the URL.

INSTRUCTIONS for Truncating back a URL: In the top Location Box, delete the end characters of the

URL stopping just before each / (leave the slash). Press enter to see if you can see more about the author

or the origins/nature of the site providing the page.

Continue this process, one slash (/) at a time, until you reach the first single / which is preceded by the

domain name portion. This is the page's server or 'publisher.'

3. Look for the date 'last updated' - usually at the bottom of a web page.

Check the date on all the pages on the site.

Who wrote the page?

· Look for the name of the author, or the name of the organisation, institution, agency, or whatever

who is responsible for the page

· An e-mail contact is not enough

· If there is no personal author, look for an agency or organization that claims responsibility for the

page.

· If you cannot find this, locate the publisher by truncating back the URL (see technique above). Does

this publisher claim responsibility for the content? Does it explain why the page exists in any way?

What are the implications?

Some person or agency or entity creates all web pages with a purpose in mind. They do not simply 'grow'

on the web like mildew grows in moist corners.

You are looking for someone who claims accountability and responsibility for the content.

An e-mail address with no additional information about the author is not sufficient for assessing the

author's credentials.

If this is all you have, try emailing the author and asking politely for more information about him/her.

Is the page dated? Is it current enough?

Is it 'stale' or 'dusty' information on a time-sensitive or evolving topic?

CAUTION: Undated factual or statistical information is no better than anonymous information. Don't use

it.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

What are the implications?

How recent the date needs to be depends on your needs.

For some topics you want current information.

For others, you want information put on the web near the time it became known.

In some cases, the importance of the date is to tell you whether the page author is still maintaining an

interest in the page, or has abandoned it.

What are the author's credentials on this subject?

Does the purported background or education look like someone who is qualified to write on this

topic?

Might the page be by a hobbyist, self-proclaimed expert, or enthusiast?

Is the page merely an opinion? Is there any reason you should believe its content more than any other

page?

Is the page a rant, an extreme view, possibly distorted or exaggerated?

If you cannot find strong, relevant credentials, look very closely at documentation of sources (next

section).

What are the implications?

Anyone can put anything on the web for pennies in just a few minutes. Your task is to distinguish

between the reliable and questionable.

Many web pages are opinion pieces offered in a vast public forum.

You should hold the author to the same degree of credentials, authority, and documentation that you

would expect from something published in a reputable print resource (book, journal article, good

newspaper).

3. Look for indicators of quality information

1. Look for a link called 'links,' 'additional sites,' 'related links,' etc.

2. In the text, if you see little footnote numbers or links that might refer to documentation, take the time to

explore them.

What kinds of publications or sites are they? Reputable? Scholarly?

Are they real? On the web (where no publisher is editing most pages), it is possible to create totally fake

references.

3. Look at the publisher of the page (first part of the URL).

Expect a journal article, newspaper article, and some other publications that are recent to come from the

original publisher IF the publication is available on the web.

Look at the bottom of such articles for copyright information or permissions to reproduce.

Are sources documented with footnotes or links?

· Where did the author get the information?

· As in published scholarly/academic journals and books, you should expect documentation.

· If there are links to other pages as sources, are they to reliable sources?

· Do the links work?

What are the implications?

In scholarly/research work, the credibility of most writings is proven through footnote documentation or

other means of revealing the sources of information. Saying what you believe without documentation is

not much better than just expressing an opinion or a point of view. What credibility does your research

need?

An exception can be journalism from highly reputable newspapers. But these are not scholarly. Check

with your instructor before using this type of material.

Links that don't work or are to other weak or fringe pages do not help strengthen the credibility of your

research.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

If reproduced information (from another source), is it complete, not altered, not fake or forged?

Is it retyped? If so, it could easily be altered.

Is it reproduced from another publication?

Are permissions to reproduce and copyright information provided?

Is there a reason there are not links to the original source if it is online (instead of reproducing it)?

What are the implications?

You may have to find the original to be sure a copy of something is not altered and is complete.

Look at the URL: is it from the original source?

If you find a legitimate article from a reputable journal or other publication, it should be accompanied by

the copyright statement and/or permission to reprint. If it is not, be suspicious.

Try to find the source. If the URL of the document is not to the original source, it is likely that it is

illegally reproduced, and the text could be altered, even with the copyright information present.

Are there links to other resources on the topic?

Are the links well chosen, well organized, and/or evaluated/annotated?

Do the links work?

Do the links represent other viewpoints?

Do the links (or absence of other viewpoints) indicate a bias?

What are the implications?

Many well-developed pages offer links to other pages on the same topic that they consider worthwhile.

They are inviting you compare their information with other pages.

Links that offer opposing viewpoints as well as their own are more likely to be balanced and unbiased

than pages that offer only one view. Anything not said that could be said? And perhaps would be said if

all points of view were represented?

Always look for bias.

Especially when you agree with something, check for bias.

4. What do others say?

1. Find out what other web pages link to this page.

a. Use alexa.com URL information:

Simply paste the URL into alexa.com's search box.

You will see, depending on the volume of traffic to the page:

Traffic rank

Subjective reviews

'Site statistics' including some page history, sites that link to the page

Contact/ownership info for the domain name

A link to the Internet archive of website history 'Wayback Machine'

b. Do a link: search in Google, Yahoo!, or another search engine where this can be done.

INSTRUCTIONS for doing a link: search in Google or Yahoo!

1. Copy the URL of the page you are investigating (Ctrl+C in Windows).

2. Go to the search engine site, and type link: in the search box.

3. Paste the URL of the investigated site into the search box immediately following link: (no space after

the colon).

The pages listed all contain one or more links to the page you are looking for.

If you find no links, try a shorter portion of the URL, stopping after each /.

2. Look the page up in a reputable directory that evaluates its contents (Librarians' Index, Infomine,

About.com, Academic Info, or a specialised directory you trust).

INSTRUCTIONS: Go to the directory and search for the title of the site you are investigating. Look for

the publisher if you can't find a specific page from a larger site.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

3. Look up the author's name in Google or Yahoo!

INSTRUCTIONS in Google: Search the name three ways:

a. without quotes - Jabberwocky Web author

b. enclosed in quotes as a phrase - 'Jabberwocky Web author'

c. enclosed in quotes with * between the first and last name - 'Jabberwocky * Web author' (The * can

stand for any middle initial or name in Google only).

Who links to the page?

Are there many links?

What kinds of sites link to it?

What do they say?

Are any of them directories? Try looking at what directories say.

What are the implications?

Sometimes a page is linked to only by other parts of its own site (not much of a recommendation).

Sometimes a page is linked to by its fan club, and by detractors. Read both points of view.

If a page or its site is in a bona fide directory, think about whether there is much critical evaluation of the

links in the directory.

Is the page listed in one or more reputable directories or pages?

What are the implications?

Good directories include a tiny fraction of the web, and inclusion in a directory is therefore noteworthy.

But read what the directory says! It may not be 100% positive.

What do others say about the author or responsible authoring body?

What are the implications?

'Googling someone' (new term for this) can be revealing. Be sure to consider the source. If the viewpoint

is radical or controversial, expect to find detractors. Think critically about all points of view.

5. Does it all add up?

1. Step back and think about all you have learned about the page. Listen to your gut reaction. Think about

why the page was created, the intentions of its author(s).

If you have doubts, ask your instructor or come to one of the library reference desks and ask for advice.

2. Be sensitive to the possibility that you are the victim of irony, spoof, fraud, or other falsehood.

3. Ask yourself if the web is truly the best place to find resources for the research you are doing.

Why was the page put on the web?

Inform, give facts, and give data?

Explain, persuade?

Sell, entice?

Share?

Disclose?

What are the implications?

These are some of the reasons to think of. The web is a public place, open to all. You need to be aware of

the entire range of human possibilities of intentions behind web pages.

Might it be ironic? Satire or parody?

Think about the 'tone' of the page.

Humorous? Parody? Exaggerated? Overblown arguments?

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Outrageous photographs or juxtaposition of unlikely images?

Arguing a viewpoint with examples that suggest that what is argued is ultimately not possible.

What are the implications?

It is easy to be fooled, and this can make you look foolish in turn.

Is this as good as resources I could find if I used the library, or some of the web-based indexes

available through the library, or other print resources?

Are you being completely fair? Too harsh? Totally objective? Requiring the same degree of 'proof'

you would from a print publication?

Is the site good for some things and not for others?

Are your hopes biasing your interpretation?

What are the implications?

What is your requirement (or your instructor's requirement) for the quality of reliability of your

information?

In general, published information is considered more reliable than what is on the web. But many, many

reputable agencies and publishers make great stuff available by 'publishing' it on the web. This applies to

most governments, most institutions and societies, many publishing houses and news sources.

But take the time to check it out.

Conclusion 

Look before you leap, and for the Internet, look before you use it.

In this lecture, a senior journalist Zahid Chaudhry answered the following questions:

How careful you are?

What you usually do?

How far is the Internet helpful?

How the Urdu journalists using the Internet?

How is different from the English journalists?

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