Unrestricted web publishing through mass media
does not entirely exist. That is to say, publications that choose to also carry
their content in other forms of media such as the internet in addition to their
print publications still bear the title of the organization in which they
represent. Below is an article from Time online by Fareed
Zakaria regarding the obtainment and storage of Americans’ data by the US
government. At first glance, it appears as though he does not cite in the
article full references. He makes mention of embedded citations within the
article but no references listed in the article although other articles and
reviews exist for the books he mentioned within article. After reading the
article, it seemed apparent that it was an opinion piece with loosely backed
information. Unfamiliar with the breadth of Zakaria’s credentials and long
history in news and media, it was quickly made apparent that he was qualified
to speak on such topics. Web searches for Zakaria’s works revealed his interviews
with Presidents and Prime Ministers, his many scholarly publications and
speaking events with international collaborators on a scholarly level.
From all appearances, it seemed as though
Zakaria almost did not need to
provide his sources formally to prove credibility, that it would be more of a
formality and accreditation to his editing background given his long career and
multiple journalism awards and prestigious interviews granted. That is, until
Wikipedia reveals that he had a run-in with a plagiarism scam in the summer of
2012 in which his article published appeared too similar to another writer’s
article for which he apologized profusely. While plagiarism maintains being one
of the worst crimes a journalist can commit, it appears to be a tiny misstep in
a long and awarded career. Zakaria’s article itself makes several claims
without listing references, however a brief cross-check via internet reveals
that the “public knowledge” backing he provides to his claims is found
elsewhere by other sources to list as truth.
Below is the article snippet with link to full article with verbatim statements
that first appear unsupported by traditional citations.
---
Big Data,
Meet Big Brother
If computers can now
predict our behavior, should governments watch our every move?
By
Fareed Zakaria
"'One who breaks an unjust
law must do so openly, lovingly and with a willingness to accept the
penalty.'" That was Martin Luther King Jr.'s definition of civil
disobedience."
"This will be the first generation of humans to have an indelible record,"
write Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen in their book The New Digital Age."
"In their excellent book Big Data, Viktor Mayer- Schönberger and Kenneth
Cukier write about the police in Richmond, Va., who track criminal incidents
against a variety of events: corporate paydays, sports events, concerts, gun
shows and dozens of other possible triggers."
"Two weeks after a gun show, for example,
there is always a jump in violent crime. Multiply this example by thousands,
and you understand what the NSA computers are doing."
"As Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier point out, if the computers can make
predictions based on data analysis, should we prevent bad actions by arresting
people before they act? ...The NSA program Prism aims to identify suspicious
patterns to allow the government to prevent terrorism (i.e., to act before an
attack takes place). A research project at the Department of Homeland Security
that tried to predict terrorist behavior based on people's vital
signs--physiological patterns--was 70% accurate, according to the
authors."
"As far as we know, the
U.S. government has broken no laws and has followed all established procedures,
and Congress approved this program, though it did so in secret, writing laws
that aren't public."
"Obama Administration officials, echoing
their (slightly less transparent) predecessors in the Bush era, insist that any
fishing expeditions undertaken through terabytes of collected data are highly
targeted and do not involve innocent Americans."
"Maybe so, but over the
past 33 years, the Executive Branch has made 33,900 requests for surveillance
to a special court created to make sure there are solid grounds to grant these
surveillance powers. The court has approved all but 11 of them. Is that genuine
oversight? It is hard to say, for the court itself is secret. Shouldn't we know
more?"
----
Excerpt from Criteria to Evaluate the
Credibility of WWW Resources
Verbatim criteria listed in
black; Answers in orange
1.
Is there any evidence that the author of the Web information has some authority
in the field about which she or he is providing information? Yes,
285 Time articles on similar topics such as politics, foreign
policy and government; editor at large and columnist of Time. What
are the author's qualifications, credentials and connections to the
subject? Richard Stengel writes, "Fareed
Zakaria, one of the world's most agenda-setting thinkers, joins TIME as a
regular columnist and cover-story writer" ... "As well as being an
author, columnist and academic, Fareed is the host of CNN's Sunday show Fareed
Zakaria GPS. Fareed's presence at TIME creates a true partnership with our
sister network CNN." ... "Fareed's worldview comes in part from being
a naturalized American citizen who was born in Bombay and grew up outside the
U.S. in what was then decidedly a country of the developing world. His academic
background — a B.A. from Yale and a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard —
also gives him a set of analytical tools that few of us have."
2.
With what organization or institution is the author associated? CNN,
Time, Washington Post, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker. Is
there a link to the sponsoring organization, a contact number and/or address or
e-mail contact? Some embedded links to articles.
3.
Does the author have publications in peer reviewed (scholarly and professional)
publications, on the Web or in hard copy? (If an author does not have peer
reviewed articles published, this does not mean that she or he does not have
credible information, only that there has been no professional "test"
of the author's authority on that subject.) Scholarly and
peer-reviewed books (Google search), major news correspondent, international
economics seminar speaker, Univ. of Oklahoma commencement speaker
4.
Are there clues that the author/s are biased? Not obvious. For example, is
he/she selling or promoting a product? Not speaking to
sell a product, speaking on topic of government and data; article appears
unmotivated by data. Is the author taking a personal stand on a
social/political issue or is the author being objective? Bias is not
necessarily "bad," but the connections should be clear.
5. Is
the Web information current? Article is dated 8 July
2013 (weekly publication. If there are a number of
out-of-date links that do not work or old news, what does this say about the
credibility of the information? It would render it
irrelevant and diminish credibility.
6. Does
the information have a complete list of works cited, which reference credible,
authoritative sources? No. If
the information is not backed up with sources, what is the author's
relationship to the subject to be able to give an "expert"
opinion? He has interviewed President Obama (repeat,
granted special access) on politics and foreign relations.
7. Can
the subject you are researching be fully covered with WWW sources or should
print sources provide balance? The subject can include
print sources if relevant, however article is on data and government. Books may
provide historical precedent but the latest articles on technology are going to
be made available online before books to keep up with changing content. Much
scholarly research is still only available in traditional print form. It is
safe to assume that if you have limited background in a topic and have a
limited amount of time to do your research, you may not be able to get the most
representative material on the subject. So be wary of making unsupportable
conclusions based on a narrow range of sources.
8. On
what kind of Web site does the information appear? Time
Magazine, owner of iconic cover photos and
internationally recognized timeless classic. The
site can give you clues about the credibility of the source.
References
Kakutani, Michiko. 2013, June 10. "Watched
by the Web: Surveillance is Reborn." [Review of ‘Big Data,’ by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier].
