Credibility...

In this age of new media one of the challenges that one is faced with is deciding what to believe. It’s important to know whether or not what you are reading is accurate information. According to Montecino (1998), “Anyone, in theory, can publish on the Web; therefore, it is imperative for users of the Web to develop a critical eye to evaluate the credibility of Internet information.” Her article Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of WWW Resources gives tips about what to look for to evaluate what is trustworthy news.

I recently read an online article from the New York Times about vaccine costs, The Price of Prevention: Vaccine Costs Are Soaring. This article caught my attention because I have young children, and the issues surrounding vaccines are always interesting to me. This particular article was looking at the rising costs of vaccines for doctor’s offices and patients. The author, Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal, is a credible author on this particular piece. Looking at her biography, she is a medical doctor who has been writing since her medical school days, but became a full time journalist in 1994 (). The article itself is an objective piece; she does not fill the article with her opinions. She interviews several parents who have had issues with getting children’s vaccines and inserts their quotes to provide a “realness” to the issue. The two main sources that she used were links from the CDC and information from a pediatrician in San Antonio, Texas. All of the links were current links that took you to other articles on the topic or to the CDC’s website where they had information to back up the graphics and statistics that Dr. Rosenthal used in the article. She also included a video link of part of her interview with the Texas pediatrician. The links and video added an extra element to the piece that would have been unavailable in the print version of the article.

While this article provides objective information about the cost of vaccines, and the reasons driving these costs, there are ultimately going to be hundreds of articles and opinions about vaccines and their effectiveness, dangers, benefits, etc. The Rosenthal article is well sourced and a credible reference, but most people aren’t going to take the time to look at background and search through links to get a full picture of the topic and make their own judgment. They are generally more likely to find an article with an opinion similar to their own and click through comments and pictures that create a more exciting piece of reading. Therein lies the double edged sword of unrestricted web posting: vast amounts of information versus accurate and reliable information.

Montecino, V. (1998, August). Criteria to evaluate the credibility of WWW resources. Retrieved July 3, 2014, from http%3A%2F%2Fmason.gmu.edu%2F~montecin%2Fweb-eval-sites.htm

Rosenthal, E. (2014, July 2). The price of prevention: Vaccine costs are soaring. The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/health/Vaccine-Costs-Soaring-Paying-Till-It-Hurts.html?ref=us&_r=0