PolitiFact.com -- checking up on the fact-checkers

PolitiFact.com is just a fun site. Elected officials, and those wo wish they were, love to run their mouth. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with whose wrong and whose even more wrong. PolitiFact is a nice resource to have when sifting through political rhetoric.

PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times. Politifact.com was created in August 2007 and modeled after FactCheck.org. It is updated throughout the day and likely appeals to well-educates, political astute individuals between the ages of 30 and 60. The stories and data are easy to read, making it easy for someone from any background knowledge American politics to access and understand information. They use both internal and external links. PolitiFace.com provides examples on their site, but sourcing the examples through external links to other articles and publications.

The site is easy to navigate, with multiple folders which all come from the home URL, www.politifact.com. I really like the mute color palette: dark grey, light blue and white. The words “We want to hear from you” are on the right-hand side, however, no emails are provided on the site. They do provide a street address and phone number. The “Contact Us” link prompts them to send the message from their site. They do provide interactive media sites such as Facebook and Twitter as well as the opportunity to sign up for weekly email or RSS feed.

The site is really clean and easy to use. It does not allow users to comment on articles, but gives the allusion of interactivity to the “Truth-O-Meter” and other such quirky gauges of accuracy.

Interestingly, there are no ads on the site, which is likely to appear as non-partisan and non-biased as possible. I believe this source to be credible because the articles in which their conclusions are formed are always provided. Additionally, PolitiFact contracts with other news outlets and won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009.

It’s a fun site. You should check it out!

chron.com

I chose to do chron.com, the Houston Chronicle website, for my web credibility Evaluation.

The content of the article gives it great credibility. The information is up to date and the audience is clearly stated. The information is exactly what you would expect it to be from a daily newspaper website. The page also has external links which are useful and work properly.

The site is authored by the Houston Chronicle, a very credible source. The paper can also be seen in a print publication format, increasing further its credibility. The publication is part of Hearst Newspapers, another very credible source. The only concern would be the fact that it’s somewhat difficult to see the tiny link at the bottom of the page to contact info, but otherwise the authority portion of this sight leaves little to question.

The site looks professional. The navigation is fairly self explanatory and there is a lot of pertinent information or guides to where to find more within the homepage of the site. The writing style is appropriate and the setup makes sense for a newspaper web version. The images all work and there are no obvious spelling or grammar errors.

Overall, this site looks professional and is from a professional source, which makes it pretty credible. Perhaps some of the layout could be better, but overall I would not worry about the credibility of the site’s content.

mySA.com

The site I chose to do my credibility assignment on is the San Antonio Express-News Web site, http://www.mysanantonio.com. I chose this site because it is local, updated at several different times daily and -- though it is a well-known site -- contains both positive and negative aspects that are considered in one's assesment of its credibility.

The site's overall content meets the criteria of being credible. The home page title is "San Antonio News, Weather, Sports : mySA.com | Express-News," indicating it is the Express-News' official home page. The most recent content (as of 8:30 p.m. Sunday evening) was added nearly an hour ago and was an article on the USA hockey team losing to Canada in the gold medal game of the Olympics, written by an Associated Press reporter. The site includes numerous internal links to other stories, blog posts, slideshows and other multimedia elements that work, as well as an external link to Hearst Newspapers, which works as well. According to its content, the site suggests its prime audience is consisted of San Antonio residents, though it does provide national and international stories as well. The news and features sections of the site seemed mostly unbiased. However, the sports sections, which includes its own link to stories only about the San Antonio Spurs, seem slightly biased (though sports sections in various large city's newspaper Web sites have similar sections for their towns' respective sports teams).

The site displays proper authority, according to Web Evaluation Checklist. Contact information is located at the bottom of the home page and a link to its Web content management site, clickability.com, is apparent in the same location as well. The domain name is .com and the user can backtrack in the URL to get to the source and find out information about the site and the newspaper itself. From the various articles I read on the site, compared to other sites with similar stories, the information is accurate and many stories provide links to other news sites or provide photos (which all include credits as well). There is also, of course, a print version of the site in the Express-News newspaper, which adds to the site's credibility.

The presentation is the one aspect, however, that may cause the user to judge the mySA Web site harshly. Though the navigation, images and links all work and are pleasing to the eye, what is just the opposite is the crowding and near-overload of information on the page. When the user scrolls down the page, it becomes hard to distinguish the advertisements from the content and there is such a plethora of information, one may not know where to begin. The source code seems clear and free of hidden comments/keywords. One other negative aspect is the search engine, which when one tries searching for a specific author, random stories come up in the results without mention of the search term.

The mysanantonio.com Web site may have its flaws, as any site does. However, it meets most of the requirements on the Web Evaluation Checklist and can therefore be considered a credible site.

WebMD

The Web site I decided to do my exercise on was webmd.com. I check this a lot whenever I am not feeling like myself to see what I have, that way I can skip the health center or when they try to tell me I have something that I know I don’t, I tell them what medicine to give me. The page is completed and being updated all the time. The title of the page is WebMD, Better information. Better health. The site began in 2005 and it has a copywrite for 2010. The target audience would be any one who is interested in health or worried that they could have a health problem. All things from fitness and exercise, to sex issues to health A to Z is included in this site. If you want to become an outside source to support their page, you must sign a linking agreement.

Because this is an advertising informational page, there was no way for me to find who created the page. My guess would be a doctor and their credentials would be a Ph.D. If you wanted to contact them, you can send an email through the contact us link at the bottom of the page. Some of their associations and affiliations would include eMedicine, RxList, Medscape and HLTH Corporation, which are all accessible as links at the bottom of the page. It is not clearly stated who sponsors the site, but there’s a link about WebMD Corporate. This is not a personal site, and with a domain name as webmd.com, it is the Web site. This site is very accurate with the information. Journalists write stories about trends and health issues. There are other ways to get the information without being on the site. There is a magazine, health record, newsletters and app for the iPhone.

This site does look very processional. It is free of GSP errors and the writing style is appropriate for the content. Being that I used this site for my personal daily life, I would say that it is very user friendly. The headings and links are very organized and easy to read. The images on the home page scroll through like a movie and there is no sound, thank God. The first time I ever found the site must have been from Google; now when I need information, I just type in webmd.com. The ads are at the top of the page, while editorials are in the center. This isn’t really a news site, but if there was news, I’m sure it would be on the home page in the center. The source code looks like my source code from my site. The only thing different is it has a lot of indents. I would recommend this site to anyone and I will continue to use the site for my issues I research on health.

Web site credibility assignment

The site I chose is a public relations tool for the Benchmark company based in Irving. The company basically promises if clients give them a one-time large payment that covers the whole family for life, and cooperate in the financial aid search, the company will help students find funding for higher education. I've seen this site prior to its present state, and it does not look like how it does now, but considering what I've learned in this course so far, I would still question some of the things on this site. I chose it because it should have some sort of consumer alert.

The Benchmark company's site barely meets credibility criteria. It dabbles in public relations but is "complete" as far as they are concerned. The title of the main page is "Benchmark Company Dallas College Financial Aid." The copyright date at the bottom lists 2008, so I'm guessing that was when the site was redesigned. The audience is potential clients and clients (that's right); therefore, the content is slanted to promote and sell the company. All the links are internal except for the e-mail address and "Forgot my password," which do work. The site does not reference itself in any articles other than "testimonials" selected and posted by the company to prove success stories. On the index page and in the "Who We Are" box, the company calls itself "reputable" on the front page without external links. A link to the company listed as an a not being an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau would help.

The site is authorized on a promotional basis for the company. There is no listing of who created the Web site other than Benchmark Company, listed at the bottom with the copyright. On the contact page lists the address, toll free phone numbers, and e-mail link. To the right of the list is the option for direct message to the company via the site. There is no interactivity unless you have a membership log in. Even though my family is a client, we do not have log in information. The site is a .com. It is for commercial use. The URL www.benchmark-company.com is the main source/page. They claim to mail newsletters, which are rarely sent. It would be more beneficial if they could post a downloadable version.

The site could be presented better. It does look professional at first glance. It's free of GSP errors. The format is easy to navigate, except on the front page a slide show blocks part of navigation and is out of align with the rest of the site. (I viewed this site on Google Chrome.) There looks to be a block of information missing. The headings never change. I tried googling the meta tags/keywords in the source page, but the company never appeared even after the third page. "Benchmark" had to be included in the search before the company was found in early results. The site does not include ads. The pictures bother me. They all have the same tone and focus on the "model students." They have no alt tags in the source coding. Benchmark is a private company. They're not coming to a student's graduation. I would prefer to see pictures sent in by clients, like on the testimonial page. The type face is all in serif fonts too.

Overall, the site can probably fool the naive. Who would think the log in would not work even with paying the fee? The company may have been beneficial for some people, but other Web sites such as Fastweb.com and Scholarships.com look more professional and produce similar results, but at least they are free. Note to potential Benchmark clients: Benchmark sends print outs of the same information you could find on fastweb.com and scholarships.com. If this company has actually helped someone who I've met or had a class with, more power to the student for their determination and patience.

Web Credibility: Cooks.com

Because I love to bake and cook, I searched Cooks.com for my Web Credibility Evaluation. While there are a lot of cooking websites out there, this one seemed to be the most professional-looking and provide me with a lot of information.

As far as content is concerned, the page is definitely complete. It has everything from cooking and baking recipes, to nutrition tips and measurement conversions. The page title is cooks.com Recipe Search. The title obviously gives the web searcher information on what the site is primarily used for. Cooks.com is copyrighted 2010, but I am not sure when it was last updated. Because there is an “upload your recipe” link, I am guessing that the page is automatically updated on a daily basis. The audience of cooks.com could be anyone who enjoys cooking, baking or eating. There is really no bias of information – the page primarily gives you any information on any recipe you could think of as well as the nutrition facts and tips to make it healthier. The “Dietary Report” and nutrition facts are the newest links on the site and they work properly – as do all the links on the website. Their main links are “featured recipes” and “most active” links which take you to the recipes that are featured or most clicked on. I have seen cooks.com be featured on The Food Network, as well as shows on the Travel Channel such as “Man vs. Food” and “No Reservations.”

It seems to me that cooks.com is created by the FOURnet Information Network. It does not have a Webmaster listed on the site. After Google searching FOURnet, I came to find that is a company that builds websites. On their website (http://www.four.net) there is a way to contact them through email, phone and fax. Cooks.com is obviously a commercial website. It was not possible for me to find out how cooks.com got started, who it got started by and why it was started. The site is accurate in my opinion – it’s hard not to be when your entire site is made up of recipes. Arguably, there are many non-web versions of the site; namely, cookbooks. J

The site is extremely professional looking. Everything has a category, is easy to find, the colors blend nicely and there are no ads anywhere. It would easily pass the GSP test and the writing style is appropriate. Navigation is everywhere on the site, and each link takes you to exactly where it says it will. There are no sounds on the site; only images. The images are basically there to let you know what your finished product should look like. I found the site while cooking dinner tonight with my boyfriend – he thought the recipe he heard off of a t.v. show sounded good, so he Googled “chicken with Rotel” and cooks.com was the first site to pop up. There are no separate presentations in the site, and there is no reason for me to think that this site isn’t credible and up-to-date.

There is not a reason for me to doubt cooks.com by any stretch. It is well organized, easy to use and comes up quickly on searches. I would suggest not making the homepage so cluttered. It seems to have more words than photos, and people want to see photos on a cooking site!

Website Credibility - Oceanic Defense

This website is called Oceanic Defense and it was copyrighted in 2009.

It is updated constantly because they have a “news and events” box on the right hand side of the page with the last one being dated 2/19/2010. The audience for this site is all people who are interested in conservation of marine species and who are concerned about the wellbeing of our oceans. Environmental agencies, educational institutions, scuba community members, and other related fields could be target audiences for this site. All of the links work properly and some are internal while others are external. Many magazines, news organizations, and non profit organizations support this site. Under the “partners” link, they have provided a list of people they are affiliated with.

The founder of Oceanic Defense is Jeff Shaw, and he is also the executive director. On the “about us” link, they have provided pictures of all the staff members and a short biography of them all. There is a contact link with connections to e-mail, twitter, facebook, skype, and their blog from Blogger. Since this organization is completely non-profit, there is a link for “donate” so that the site can continue to be sponsored. Since this is an organization, it contains “.org” in the URL. All of the internal pages are correctly titled in the URL bar and I am able to backtrack in the URL easily.

This site is very professional looking. It uses appropriate colors and photographs with effective use of typography. There are no noticeable grammar errors and the writing is stye is appropriate for the topic.

As far as I can tell, the source code for the site looks well put together and properly set up.

The best part about this site are the photographs and typography. They are both very visually appealing and make a scientific topic (which would normally be hard for the average person to swallow) easier to understand.

DZ

I'm going to do my new web site on the Delta Zeta sorority here at Txstate.

Web Credibility Assignment - Popular Science

Back in middle school, there were many times I would drop by my city’s library to do homework and relax after classes before my mom would pick me up. One magazine I remember reading a good amount of at the time was Popular Science. The magazine was a bit different in format years ago, but it continues to publish interesting stories on the topics of technology, science and the future in general.

Popular Science has been offering content on its Web site, www.popsci.com, since 1999. The site, updated multiple times daily, mainly appeals to American men between the ages of 20 and 45. I couldn’t identify bias in its material, but I did notice how some of the articles contains some jargon that non-tech savvy individuals would likely find somewhat difficult to understand. Also, the journalists of Popular Science aren’t afraid to infuse some humor into their stories from time to time. The site publishes nearly all of its own material with a majority of its links being internal, but there are some external ones that connect readers to Web sites that cover related topics (i.e. www.engadget.com). These external links provide adequate support for the stories covered on www.popsci.com.

Popular Science created its own Web site (and made drastic changes to the site’s layout in 2008 by using the content management system Drupal). The site has a contact page that contains the address of the publication’s offices as well as brief information regarding the advertising and public relations departments. Readers also have the opportunity to comment on and rate Web articles. The site is affiliated with the Bonnier Corporation, an American magazine publisher that is owned by Sweden’s Bonnier Magazine Group. The corporation’s name and link is located at the bottom of the home page. The domain name of the site is a conveniently shortened form of the Popular Science name, www.popsci.com. If a reader is looking at a particular article on the site, that person can easily backtrack in the URL address to get to the site’s home page. The Web site is quite accurate with its content (the publication’s writers seem relatively up-to-date with recent technological advancements). A non-Web version of Popular Science exists as a magazine that can be purchased on news racks around the world.

Regarding appearances, the site looks professional and is free of common grammar, spelling and punctuation errors that sometimes plague the online versions of many magazines. The writing style is appropriate for the site’s material as well as the publication’s target audience. The site’s format is easily-navigable and allows readers to view material with ease. Its functionality is further enhanced by the use of easy-to-read headings. The images and video on are crisp and complement the site’s articles well. I was able to find www.popsci.com by performing a search on Google. After typing “Popular Science” into the search, the Web site of the magazine appeared at the top of Google’s search results. There are a few advertisements on the site, but the ads are not difficult to distinguish from the site’s actual content and do not clutter the site’s pages. As complex as the source code is for the site’s home page, it is interesting to see the tags of the site, which include keywords such as “technology, innovation, engineering, environment and future”.

While the magazine does not have as large of an online following as other publications, such as Wired, Popular Science has increased its Web presence in the past two years by effectively using social media. The publication now even offers iPhone users a free application. If I could make one recommendation, however, it would be to continue development on updating this application, as it is a bit slow in responsiveness. Overall, I am impressed by how Popular Science has modernized their aesthetic in recent years to appeal to today’s readers.

Newsweek's web credibility

Newsweek is one of my favorite publications. Not only does it offer national news, it also covers up-and-coming technologies, politics, trends in society, business and health articles, all while capturing my interest, as opposed to merely delivering the news. I have subscribed to the magazine in the past, but no longer have a subscription. I’m going to take a look at Newsweek’s online site to see if it can stand up to its print counterpart.

Upon first glance of the site, it is complete, with current articles on its front page. The articles do not have any obvious bias or slant. Their audience is clearly middle-aged business people who want to stay informed on current events. Some links are internal, sending me to expanded articles, videos, and reporter bios. Others are external, sending me to articles from news sources such as the Washington Post and Macworld.

A publication of this size has many people keeping its site up-to-date. There are multiple contact emails, but they are anonymous such as letters@newsweek.com and tech@newsweek.com. Newsweek online readers can comment on articles as well as the blog. At the bottom of their page, their interactive media are listed, which include Facebook, Digg, Twitter, LinkedIn and Buzz up. They are affiliated with msnbc, the Washinton Post, Slate, Aol News, the Big Money, and Budget Travel. These are listed at the bottom of the home page under ‘News from trusted Newsweek partners.” The domain name, www.newsweek.com, means you know exactly what news source you’re looking at. I find the site to be extremely accurate, mirroring the print magazine’s accuracy.

The site is professional looking, well organized, and free of GSP errors. Not only is the writing style is appropriate for the topic, the articles are written in a fresh and interesting manner. The format is easy to use and very modern, especially when you click through to an article, where you will find pictures and video of the topic. You can also make comments or post directly to your social media site. All images, sound, and video work in conjunction with the site. The navigation is effective although I often find news publication’s online source to be more difficult to maneuver than the print version. The ads have a heading, albeit small gray font, that says advertisement. The editorials have pictures of the writers, helping users recognize that they are opinion pieces. The rest of the content is news.

The online version of Newsweek gives me no reason to doubt its credibility. However, I still would recommend one change: reorganize. I find this to be an issue for many online news publications. They have so much content that it can be overwhelming for the user without proper organization. Other than that, the site is effective, credible and modern.

Songwriting Website

For my new website, my topic will be songwriting. When I was looking at other songwriting sites (both for this project and in the past) I noticed that the large majority are either outdated or a hard-sell on a product such as a songwriting book or class. My website will be neither and I hope this will give me credibility. My links will be home, book reviews (songwriting books I've read), links (to other sites I find useful), and resources (things every songwriter needs). I can really see this site as being a useful tool for other songwriters and perhaps it will even give me new opportunities.

Assignment 3

I plan to make assignment 3 about the Texas State University Department of Housing. I was a Peer Assistant for 2 years and have a lot of experience in housing here at the university. A lot of my friendships and strong relationships were built through being part of the Department of Housing, so I feel like I will have a lot of insight and input to go into this assignment.

-Jennifer Trayan

The University Star: A glimpse into the newsroom

My hobbies page will be dedicated to The University Star. It takes up the majority of my time, so I figure why not spend a few more hours focusing on it! However, this site will focus what goes on behind the scenes. It will serve as "A glimpse into the newsroon."

Sports

The topic for my hobby/interests page is sports. As both an avid sports fan and sportswriter, I'm confident I have solid knowledge on the topic and can provide people with information regarding Bobcat Athletics from a college student's perspective.

My pages will include home, The Drive, teams and links. The home page will provide a general overview of my topic and what information I will provide to those viewing my site. The Drive page will have information about Texas State's attempt at moving to the Football Bowl Subdivision and my take on whether the university can reach FBS status. The teams page will include information about each team regarding their history, awards and some of the most notable players. Finally, the links page will include links to other sites with information about Bobcat Athletics, including various media outlets and blogs.

If you have any suggestions for me or something you'd like to see, please leave a comment and let me know.

Paige's New Web site

So after really considering what I could do for as a particular interest or hobby of mine, I decided to make a Web site dealing with yoga. I recently started doing yoga as a way of "physical therapy" for my back. I was diagnosed with mild scoliosis and my sister-in-law (who is a yoga instructor) recommended I try out yoga as a way to help my back. It really does help me, but do to work and school I don't have a lot of time to go. My page will consist of other ways that benefits you, where in Austin to do yoga, and a brief history of yoga. Hopefully, this will be a useful Web site!

Pageant Resources

I enjoy competing in the Miss Texas America Scholarship system. It's a big part of my life and a fun hobby! I think it would be a great idea to share my love of the pageant world with others who are involved and even educate and share information with people who don't know much about pageants.

On my hobbies page I will include information about the Miss America pageant system, The Children's Miracle Network program, which is the national platform, benefits of pageants, Tips about pageants and a testimonial page about what it has done for me in my life and maybe other contestants too.

It'll be fun to share information about apart of my life and give someone else an opportunity to be apart of the pageant world!

~Selina Affram

Project Three Ideas

My idea for project three is to do a new website for the Texas State Interfraternity Council. The website that is currently up has lots of very useful information, however I believe that it could be beneficial to students if their was more content and information on recruitment and what the benefits of becoming part of a fraternity are.

Hobby site

For my hobby site I think I'm going to cover a few water sports that I favor. I touched on it on the hobbies page of my personal site and want to expand on it. I don't have the opportunity to participate in the sports often, but each time I learn more and broaden my abilities.

I will use aquatic colors and pull water images for backgrounds. My pages would reflect the different sports and include home, kneeboarding, tubing, fishing (yes, some people consider it a sport), and contacts and links. Each page will elaborate on the different sport. What works and doesn't work, what places are good for each, safety, who are the professionals, etc.

Adrenalife Magazine - Project 3

For my project 3 assignment, I am going to create a website for the magazine I am hoping to start one day. It will be called Adrenalife Magazine (like adrenaline) and it will be targeted towards people looking for adventurous things to do. I will have 4 pages - home, upcoming adventures, past adventures, and plans for the mag.
On the home page, I plan to talk a a little about what Adrenalife is. I will have 3 pictures of things people I know have done on the top and then a paragraph below each picture.
On the upcoming adventures page, I will talk about the things my friends and I have planned for the near future with links to the sites related to them.
On the past page, I will post videos, pictures, and explanations/commentary of things done in the past by people that I know.
And finally, on the plans page, I will discuss how I plan to go about creating my magazine after I graduate.

Hobby-Friesen

Magic: The Gathering
For my hobby page I'm going to take a look at a trading card game based on five different colors. On my home page I will talk about the formation of the game as well as its creator. Then, on the colors page I will discuss what each of the colors represent as well as trends with-in each color. Then on the third page, I will break down the basic gameplay for anyone to understand, and include definitions and rules for specific situations. On my final page, I will dissect specific cards that are interesting or popular right now, including notes on what style deck a card fits with or will be useful against.