What I know
can be defined in a variety of different ways, but assuming this blog is
referring to my knowledge about current events and other topics, the knowledge
does mainly come from social media. Since I do not have cable at home, I make
it a point to follow all of the news stations on twitter. ALL is the important word
in that sentence, because I understand that different news services have
biases. Before I make a decision on a piece of information I see, I look at
other news sources that are known for their credibility, and make sure that the
facts are similar. My golden rule is to look at three sites before I make a decision
on the information given.
Today, I learned
that the most recent news on #MH370 being possibly located hold little
validity. First, this was reported on CNN, my go to news station. They posted a
link on twitter, so I followed to their page to investigate more. I then
proceeded to Fox news, which had posted about new findings relating to the
plane but the article posted about doubts that U.S DOT inspector had.
Since CNN
seemed more concrete on the new developments being incorrect, I used a third resource
to decide what information was correct. NBC. There are cases where just one
source can be reliable, and in emergency situations knowing the source of the
broadcast can help give direction. During the Boston bombings last year,
following the Boston Police Dept. on twitter gave users access to accurate
emergency information.
In the case of
not an emergency, I think one source from social media is not reliable enough
as a whole. Returning to the same principle that one news source is not enough,
social media echoes the same biases and inconsistencies that can be found on TV
or in Newspapers.
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ReplyDeleteHi Che-
ReplyDeleteI have also been following the Malaysian Airline story closely on Twitter, especially in the first few days of the investigation, and that is a great example of how quickly misinformation can travel. It is interesting to note that you are accessing accredited news outlets such as CNN and Fox News through social media, which one would assume would be reliable, but they have also provided inaccurate information on this story. Social media has blurred the lines of journalism, so it has definitely become more of a challenge for readers to decipher what is true and what is not.
Best,
Ashley
Your golden rule of checking three sites is great. It definitely illustrates the time that you take to verify the information that you come across. I will agree with you as well that there are times when only one source is needed to believe a story. Besides the sites you listed I put a lot of trust in the Boston Globe. I enjoy my local paper but for bigger stories that would be my go to. I have very little faith in social media reporting unless I can verify it somewhere else that is reputable.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Nina