Module 3: Sources Under Fire

Sources are the best indication that written work is thoroughly researched and fully backed by evidence. However, the roots of these source must be analyzed to ensure that the information provided is as free as possible from political or monetary benefit. For example, if I state that chocolate is healthy for everyone, but I work for Willy Wonka, that would be an investment that prevents me from presenting unfiltered information. Understanding my position at Willy Wonka, a reader can interpret my findings as self-beneficial and can decide for themselves if they agree with my statement. Understanding the sources, and where their loyalties lie is very important in understanding the facts presented to us on a daily basis. We as readers, become hyper aware of the connections sources have to the topic at hand.

Article:
Venezuela Offers Asylum to Snowden
By WILLIAM NEUMAN and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: July 5, 2013
THE NEW YORK TIMES ONLINE

Sources:
Wikileaks Twitter account
María Eugenia Díaz contributed reporting from Caracas, Venezuela.Daniel Ortega, the president of NicaraguaPresident Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela 

Evaluation:
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? What are the author's qualifications, credentials and connections to the subject? 

Yes, all of these sources have some authority in the field of the matter-- they are leaders and contributors to the news first hand-- while WikiLeaks is known for presenting information that is confidential and oftentimes not pleasing to the government. Usually Wikileaks is known for presenting unbiased information.

2. With what organization or institution is the author associated? Is there a link to the sponsoring organization, a contact number and/or address or e-mail contact? A link to an association does not necessarily mean that the organization approved the content. 

The New York Times. There could be a link between them and the recent stories with Snowden and their dedication to presenting the news in a fair and balanced way, but no I do not see any direct correlation.

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.) 

Yes, every article in a newspaper is peer reviewed.

4. Are there clues that the author/s are biased? For example, is he/she selling or promoting a product? 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.

 It does not appears that the author is demonstrating bias-- however, they are a citizen of one of the countries involved in the article which makes her maybe more credible, but also invested in the issue.

5. Is the Web information current? 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?This is a highly current article. Says that this news was recent and generally has active information sources.

6. Does the information have a complete list of works cited, which reference credible, authoritative sources? 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? 

There was no work cited at all within this article, these names/sources were pulled directly form the text itself. As it is spoken word from President of other nations.

7. Can the subject you are researching be fully covered with WWW sources or should print sources provide balance? 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. 

This one can be fully researched with WWW sources, as it is highly current.

8. On what kind of Web site does the information appear? The site can give you clues about the credibility of the source.

A newspaper site-- which actually gives the article more stance as it is backed by a news institution.

Impact:
These sources, as leaders in their respective countries and the impact of the website that hosts this article being a news source contributes to my belief that this is an accurate telling of the current Snowden situation. We are constantly evaluating the things we see and read, and taking the time to process this information is highly beneficial to reading works outside of the text alone.
-Abbey