The Qualities of the Information We Receive as Well as Distribute - Essay Example

Overview This report was made at the request of Sandy Devotional, Manager of Triffid Information Management, for the purpose of evaluating the qualities of the information we receive as well as distribute. Because information is so readily available, it is of importance that we remain aware of the source of our information as well as the channels we use for distribution. Traditional news and magazine outlets, both paper-based and electronic, were compared against electronic Internet-only based media (see Appendix A). The report defines a news source as a magazine that holds up to the rigors of journalistic standards and is available in printed form, whereas a Web Site, only available on the Internet, offers services and opinions outside the scope of said scrutiny. Retailer ASDA was selected as the industry standard due to its size, notoriety, and recent controversial issues surrounding them. Sources were checked for credibility, currency of information, ease of acquiring the information, and overall viewer appeal. It was found that sources with a traditional paper history were more likely to hold to a higher journalistic standard than their electronic only counterparts. In the past, highly biased and slanted reporting would enjoy a limited circulation in marginal markets. However, recent innovations in Internet technology have made publishing quick, inexpensive, and have made universal distribution available to everyone. It was noted that some web sites operated for the sole purpose of popularizing a social or political agenda. These were often recognizable not only by the name of the site, but also by the language used in their articles. They tended to use harsh, adjective reporting, were void of objective statistics and figures, and rarely offered opposing points of view. On the Internet, what appears to be a magazine or a credible news outlet, may in fact be only a promotion for an industry, or extreme viewpoints with little regard for fact. Hard statistical and financial data was available in print-based sources, but was more functional on the web site format. Web sites can also offer an array of services and unique information not found in the more staid, traditional sources. These services can include video content, links to related stories, and specialized reporting on unique topics. While nearly all electronic outlets are equipped with site search capability, global search engines such as Google and Yahoo tended to rank traditional magazines above web only sites. It was found that searching requires experience and knowledge of the search engine to produce meaningful results. Reliability of Information On comparison, it was found that information was overall more credible from traditional news sources, sources dedicated to financial reporting, and high traffic sites. Outlets with a paper counterpart tended to hold to a higher journalistic standard. Articles were consistently more recent and were routinely time and date stamped. A sample of inquiries revealed: The more traditional BBC and The Telegraph electronic outlets had current information similar to a newspaper and had all articles dated. Web Sites Friends of the Earth, War on Want, and Pendle.net presented out of date stories and little if any current content. No company or financial details were available. "Hoovers" and "The Competition Commission", outlets with a focused purpose, offered professional research that was dated and cited. These sources offered the most complete and accurate financial assessments. "Yahoo" and "Reuters", large global sites, contained not only current news articles, but also detailed financial and contact information. Both sources draw on a variety of reliable sources and functions as a database for information. The language that permeates the article can, to a degree, be used to assess the information. Extreme and sensational characterization is an indication of editorial opinion and may not be based in truth. Where a reliable source may give the details of workforce treatment and hiring in terms of numbers and location, some sites will characterize the activity as "highly beneficial" or having "ruthless negative impact". Paper based outlets used separate sections labeled Editorial to convey speculation and opinion. The study found several glaring differences in reporting on the treatment of ASDA's planned expansion: Web sites, such as Corporate Watch, Friends of the Earth, and War on Want, used phrases such as; "Exploit", "Empire", and "Will not live up to". This type of language indicates a highly charged agenda. The Scottish Food and Drink and Retail Bulletin, retail promotion guides, termed the expansion using language such as; "Committed to deliver", "Investing in", and "Diverse workers of all ages". Interviews were limited to industry spokesmen. The "BBC" and "Reuters" used more of an objective approach in it's description with phrases such as; "Plans to recruit", "Supermarket giant", "Main beneficiary", and "Planned to create". The validity of the information, to a large extent, is dependent upon the original source of the information. The BBC and Reuters employ their own internal departments to create and edit the content of their material. This places the responsibility of the content directly on them and has the effect of increasing the quality of the information. Large web sites, such as Yahoo and Google, derive their articles from a wide array of sources. In this case it is important to take into account the original source of the information. The web site Retail Bulletin outsources all it's articles and draws heavily on press releases from the store being highlighted. Though this may be a valid source for accurate information, it tends to lean toward the positive aspects and ignore any negative impact. The ASDA corporate web site had sparse company information or news available. It had a focused purpose of spotlighting its products, services, and pricing. A newer innovation in Internet information is the "Blog". A blog, short for weblog, is a private site that is open for any individual to comment or post content. This opens up a source for anonymously posted information that may not be available in mainstream sources. It also opens an avenue for the dissemination of misinformation and personal perspectives. Information taken from a blog should be viewed in the light that in most cases the information cannot be verified for accuracy. Availability of Information Sources of information vary not only in content, but also in the delivery method employed to provide the information. The BBC is available in broadcast format as well as Internet based electronic format. The Telegraph, available as a print newspaper, is also available online in electronic form. Others, such as Yahoo and Pendle.net are available only online. Industry standard journals, financial data, and industry analysis are available as open access or subscription. Open access gives free public access to the information. Subscription services, which are generally more specialized, are available for a subscription fee. For the purposes of this study, only open access information was considered. Business Week, a long standing standard of the business community, has an online open access site. It mirrors the print magazine in both style and content and has a variety of sections from news and investing to technology and innovation. The electronic format has the added advantage in the publisher's ability to update the information regularly and provide late breaking articles. Yahoo, available only online, has up to the minute news as well as current financial information. When comparing the financial information available on various sites offering business-oriented information on ASDA's parent company WalMart it was found: Business Week offers up to date stock quotes as well as a company profile, financial statements, and SEC filings. Historical stock data up to 10 years is available in graphic form. A company profile and the annual report are available at no charge. Yahoo has up to date quotes delayed by as little as 15 minutes, as well as current news and press releases on publicly traded stocks. It offers graphical presentations of the stocks performance. Yahoo also has a company profile, contact information and a list of company officers. A check of the information on Hoovers revealed that an overview of Wal Mart was available, as well as an overview of the UK subsidiary ASDA's sales performance. Detailed financial information, stock quotes, and historical data were available only with their subscription service. While the BBC limited it's financial information to current stock price and a 30-day history, Reuters had historical data for up to 5 years as well as analysis, profile, institutional holdings, and insider activity. The availability of information is often dependent on our ability to locate the information we need. Major search engines such as Google and Yahoo can aid in the location of an appropriate site, but care must be taken to insure adequate searching techniques are used. Entering the single phrase "ASDA" on Google returned just under 2 million sites. The corporate site is at the top of the list, but the remaining sites have no relationship to information available or credibility. In fact, War on Want came in high on the list, but provided the least valuable information. Limiting the search with additional keywords can aid in attaining relevant information. In a search for financial information, the phrase "Wal Mart financial information" was entered. The list of available sites exceeded 6 million, but the sites near the top had more relevance to the search. Reuters, Yahoo, and Hoovers were all located in the top 15 sites. The addition of keywords that have relevance to the information you are seeking can aid in locating a valid source. When "Asda expansion" and "Asda expansion controversy" was entered, the results were compared: The addition of the word "Expansion" brought up the Friends of the Earth web site though the article was 18 months old. Clearly the age of the information is not a consideration to the search engine. The addition of "Expansion" also located several major news and magazine outlets considered to be reliable. BBC and Business Week were both ranked in the top twenty. They were joined by a variety of other business and news sites. When the keyword was entered as "Asda expansion controversy", the top of the list was populated by sites that are consumer oriented, environmental centric, or portray a social agenda. No major news or business outlets were listed in the top twenty positions. Once a suitable site is located, the problem of locating particular information becomes another hurdle to cross. Almost all information outlets and web sites have a site search engine. However, simply entering the keyword "ASDA" may return vastly different results depending on the type of search engine the site employs. The results of a comparison of the site search capabilities on three major information outlets using only the keyword "ASDA": Reuters only searches articles within the last 30 days with the keyword in the headline. A search for the keyword returned 2 recent articles. This limits the data available and archived articles are not searched. The retrieved articles are, however, relevant. BBC searches more archived articles and searches the entire text of the article. This results in not only an overwhelming amount of information, but lists articles that may only mention ASDA in passing and may or may not be meaningful. The Telegraph has advanced search techniques that allow you to limit the time frame or define a window in time. It also allows you to search just the headlines or the text. This method of searching assures more meaningful results in a minimum amount of time. Financial information was more easily accessed. The keyword used would be the stock symbol. The two sites with the most complete financial information, Yahoo and Reuters, had the information logically arranged and was easy to use. After entering the stock symbol, further navigation was accomplished by point and click. Headings and links were clearly labeled and the process was very intuitive. The Ergonomics of the Information Ergonomics is reflected in an information's source being easy to use, user friendly, and possessing a degree interactive features. These features can include sound, video, or unique features and articles. An ergonomic source will make location of the desired information easy to find and will be uncluttered by irrelevant background distractions. In electronic media, the most common distraction was advertising. It was found that the more credible and useful the source was, the more likely it was to contain advertising. As the dissemination of information is a business, it is not surprising that the most popular and useful sources would attract the most advertising. Traditional news sources, BBC, The Telegraph, and Reuters all had a moderate amount of advertising. The advertising was non-intrusive and did not distract from the information. Yahoo had a variety of useful, and up to date information, but was permeated with busy and distracting advertising. Web sites with outdated, highly opinionated, and irrelevant information such as; Corporate Watch, War on Want, and Pendle.net were all advertisement free. ASDA's retail outlet web site had promotional advertising of its brand products, as would be expected of its storefront purpose. Aside from delivering text-based information, electronic media has made possible the addition of other forms of delivery. Financial data was available on ASDA's parent Wal Mart with interactive features and often included analysis capabilities. Some information outlets provided news and events in audio or video format. Web sites with a focused purpose and limited audience were found to provide some additional features not found elsewhere. Yahoo had extensive interactive features in the business section that allowed in-depth analysis of a stock's trends, comparisons, and forecasting. The site was easy to use and intuitive for anyone with a minimal degree of experience. Business Week and BBC offered limited comparisons to several popular indices. The BBC offered radio and video programming on their web location. The Telegraph generally mirrored the print version and contained extensive sections that included crosswords, editorials, and weather. Pendle.net, a web site dedicated to Pendle, offered local news and information such as the location of the local Pendle ASDA store. The ASDA store site, in addition to product sales, had career and employment information. It also had a section dedicated to its fundraising efforts, most notably highlighting breast cancer. Summary All information sources were dedicated to providing information that was unique to their audience. With few exceptions, the outlets were focused in their attempt to provide news, data, or entertainment tailored to their expected readership. Though the content varied widely, the range and bias of the information generally remained consistent throughout the source or web site. If a web site had a social or political agenda, it tended to remain on message throughout the publication. Moderate and conservative publications rarely entered into controversial areas and opinionated comment was clearly labeled editorial. All were easy to use though there were differences in their functionality in reference to locating relevant information. Locating the source was often more easily accomplished than locating the exact information desired. The inclusion of site search engines was common to all sources, though there were differences in the usefulness of the search results. Retrieving updated information in a logical order was often a problem on non-print based web sites. With the exception of Yahoo, a broad based global web site, Internet web sites were more focused on a particular function or message. News outlets provided a broader range of features and had a wider audience appeal. Specialty web locations, such as Hoovers and The Competition Commission, were limited in their approach to providing information outside the scope of their specialty. This can be highly beneficial when searching for well-defined documents or data. Viewer perception can be a major asset, or work to the detriment of the source. Sources with a rich tradition of journalistic achievement provide the viewer with assumed trust. The reputation of The BBC and The Telegraph gives the audience a sense of reliance in the authenticity and credibility of the information. Web sites that lean toward undocumented sources or emotional appeal stand out as an unreliable and often undesirable source to gather factual information. Whereas traditional news outlets may be viewed as neutral, web sites have a tendency to fall into the category of bias and opinion. Web sites, due to their more focused message, can offer information not available in other formats. The ease with which a web site can be published opens the area to targeting a single-issue audience. Local news for a small town, or readers with an obscure political agenda are more likely to find a web site useful in their search for information. Web sites can also open the avenue of audience input through comment sections and chat rooms. Larger traditional news sources are limited in these features due to their necessity of broad appeal and widespread circulation. Information is of value only when it can be trusted to be accurate and relevant. Information needs to be current, detailed, and deemed dependable by verification of the source's reputation. Information that is out of date, poorly organized, or not cited to its authenticity should remain suspect. Appendix A Sources Cited 1. BBC available from 2. The Telegraph available from 3. Friends of the Earth available from 4. War on Want, available from 5. Pendle.net, available from 6. Hoovers available from 7. Competition Commission available from 8. Yahoo available from 9. Google available from 10. ASDA available from 11. Reuters available from 12. Corporate Watch available from < http://www.corpwatch.org> 13. Scottish Food and Drink available from 14. Retail Bulletin available from 15. Business Week available from Read More