Unrestricted Web Publishing

After Reviewing the Huffington post article and other sources about former U.S National security agency contractor Edward Snowden  reporting to a German TV channel about threats to his life this is what i discovered. Snowden accuses the U.S. Governemnt of plans to assassinate him for leaking official documents of the NSA tracking millions of U.S citizens telephone numbers and emails. Snowden admits that he fears for his lie, but subsequently sleeps well at night. 

The potential impact of unrestricted web publishing through mass media can be devastating. Although article publications don't directly have the authors personal views, it doesn't mean that the sources by which he/she obtained to compare and contrast aren't bias. When media content is unrestricted, it allows any author to post and forward stories without providing crediable sources. Unrestricted material publshed through multiple sources can be sought after as an act of plagarism, but instead remains unchanged. 

After evaluating the article on former U.S National security agency contractor Edward Snowden, the Criteria to evaulate the creditability of www resources are as followed: 

1. According to Reuters.com Author Erik Kirschbaum for the Huffington Post is not new to the arena of investigative reporting. Kirschbaum has been covering politics, economics, sports and entertainment in Germany since 1989. 

2. According to Erik Kirschbaum's personal Linked in Profile, he is associated with the Foreign Press Association (VAP) as the Chairman. He also has worked for Thompson Reuters as a correspondent; doing investigative reporting on foriegn press material. Here's his link for addditional info: 

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=254705301&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=YLNe&locale=de_DE&srchid=1344547111390786999025&srchindex=2&srchtotal=2&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A1344547111390786999025%2CVSRPtargetId%3A254705301%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary&_mSplash=1

Here is the link to his affiliated association:  http://blogs.reuters.com/erik-kirschbaum/

His email: erik.kirschbaum@thomsonreuters.com

3. Erik Kirschbaum's publications have been Featured on Peer reviewed resarch from a time magzine article entitled 

America Gets Back on Track For scenery, company and peace of mind, riders are returning to the rails.

References

 Gibbs, N. R., Cramer, J., & Kirschbaum, E. (1988). America Gets Back on Track For scenery, company and peace of mind, riders are returning to the rails. Time, 131(14), 90.

4. After reviewing the publshed article, I discovered that the Author stayed true to the premise of the article and didnt deter from it. There were no products promoted nor referenced. Kirschbaum didn't make a social/political spin on the issues presented. 

5. The most current Information found date recently from January 26th 2014. 

6.  The information provided doesn't comes with a set of work cited material however the suthirs background is in investigative reporting of Politics. 

7. Based on the evidence provided about the sources, I have to conclude that it cannot be fully credited through www sources, however this doesnt mean that the information provided isn't creditable. 

8. The information found on Edward Snowden was found through the Huffington Posts which falls under the News and Journalistic sites (E-zines). The Huffington Post is parent to internet company AOL and was founded in New York City in 2005 by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, Andrew Breitbart and Jonah Peretti. Arianna Huffington is Greek-American liberal commentator, author and columist that is known for her political views after running for governor of California in 2003. After the internet company AOL aquired the huffington post, they made Arianna Huffington the CEO. Her background is in investigative reporting and she personally has a high-profile political background. Her knowledge of politics makes her come off as a more creditable source however, this doen't exclude her from sharing her own personal views on political topics. 

In short, Unrestricted sources are often seen as less than creditable because the sources itself dont derive from empirical research. A source should involve someone or something that has expertise in the suggested topic. When you are able to freely post and forward information without providing resources, does it mean that what your saying isnt true? No, however it makes it harder for the reader to discern truth from fiction. I personally believe that your beliefs on topics run as deep as your research into it. 

Social Media: Fact or Fiction?

How do we as hominids obtain knowledge? Well according to Kovach and Rosentiel (2010) "Humans from birth are neurologically hardwired to make sense of their individualized environments." We as humans obtain knowledge and evolve first by our senses such as touch, feel, taste and smell etc. Kovach and Rosentiel (2010) also states that "Overtime, as we get older and learn more," We obtain knowledge through various types of media such as blogs, newspapers, social media etc." To me, Knowledge is something that is learned and cannot be taken away. Epistemelogical foundations are set from birth on up to death however, how we learn what we learn is contingent on our surroudings. I would not be who I am if it wasnt for my mother, who attended college and knew the importance of reading, writing and advocating for free speech. As you grow older especially in a time of fast technological advances such as social media in today's society, you have to learn all you can learn. 

One new thing that i've learned using social media websites would   be that my favorite popstar Beyonce was set to release her music video called "Grown Woman." The song Grown Woman was originally featured as a short promo song for Beyonce's exclusive commercial deal with pepsi.  In the video she's glancing into a set of mirrors that all showcase her past iconic looks as alteregos such as Sasha Fierce. Through Instagram, tons of followers were posting short thirty second leaked video snippets of what was supposedly the "real" video set to be released in December. I personally started to believe the video release hype because it was not only on Instagram, but featured on Facebook, Tumblr etc. The news quickly flooded the internet on NBC, ABC news etc. The video itself started to seem to me as if it was authentic which come to find out, it actually was. Then on December 13, 2013 Beyonce released her fifth studio exclusively to itunes at midnight and informed her fans by releasing a short instagram video. Stark and Crawley (2013) states " On Thursday, after almost a year of speculation over the release of her fifth album, the 32-year-old singer rush released her latest studio effort on iTunes with no promotion or prior warning to her fans." The news of Beyonce releasing her highly anticipated album was a jaw dropper for me and to this day I still laugh at the surprise because she shocked everyone. This is a perfect example of social media sites that have potential crediability however, they arent always a relaible source of information. 

I personally think that social media websites aren't always creditable for obtaining information from because alot of sources come tend to derive from one another. An common issue with communication and journalism is that alot of gossip tends to pollute original sources which leads the reader to discern whats valid from whats false. This doesnt mean that looking a someone's blog is automatically subject to examine its sources further, but you should always question what you read. From a researchers perspective I tend to believe information that also has longitutional empircal research attached to it or tend to provide the same information across multiple media sources. Social media sources arent always reliable, but its up to you as the reader to determine what is fact from fiction. 

References 

Kovach, B., & Rosentiel, T. (2010). Blur: How to know whats true in the 

age of information overload. New York: Bloomsbury, USA. 

Stark, G., & Crawley, J. (2013). 'I see music!': Beyonce shocks fans as 

she releases groundbreaking self titled album... along with

SEVENTEEN new videos featuring Jay Z, Blue Ivy and her mom. 

Daily Mail. Retreived from: 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2522985/Beyonce-

shocks-fans-releases-new-album-17-new-videos.html

Negative Effects of relationships and social media

The era of social media is a world wind of updated statuses ranging from new jobs to relationship posts. All of these components of social media reflect how we as humans see ourselves personally and professionally in our modern day world of pop culture. Social media networks are great ways to inform individuals across the world about disasters etc. but it shouldn't always be the way to inform others about events especially those that involve yourself personally. I personally use social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn to stay in contact with my closest love ones and to find out what’s going on in the world. Facebook and LinkedIn is by far the most visited social media platforms I use to date. Facebook has reflected the dynamic of relationships that I have had with co-workers, family members and close friends. If you deconstruct the features that Facebook offers to the general public, you typically see tools to give a full scale of personal information in explicit detail. To be brutally honest I’ve been in situations that have caused me to break off relationships with significant other’s because of them posting information relating to the both of us before. I don’t think that hundreds of pictures, relationship statuses and updates talking about your personal relationships should be publicized to the general public especially on social media. According to Pandita (2011) “Developing relationships with such individuals has it’s own risks as these people can take undue advantage of others.” Posting your life through social media attracts large amounts of people who ultimately become apart of a lot of these situations by posting critical comments and messages.  I no longer post my life through social media and I also watch what I say to others online because of my job and values. Its like what my mother taught me “keep your enemies close and keep your friends closer.”

Pandita, R. (2011). How Does Social media Affect Relationships? Buzzle.

Retrieved from: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-does-social-media-affect-relationships.html