Critical Thinking Analysis of a Web Site
Accuracy in Media (AIM) is a non-profit organization, which wasfounded in 1969 by Reed Irvine, with the objective of working towards"fairness, balance, and accuracy in news reporting." Indeed, theorganization's objective is clearly reflected in its very name, as well asin its mission statement, which reads, "Accuracy in Media is a non-profit,grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched andbungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues thathave received slanted coverage." (Accuracy in Media, 2004) Prima facie, the name Accuracy in Media indicates either an industryinitiative to self-regulate its practices or a body set up by government toprotect citizen's interests. In point of fact, however, it is a non-profitorganization that subsists on fund-raising efforts and the patronage ofprivate donors such as the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the CarthageFoundation (Media Transparency). Quite obviously, if the organization hasbeen able to survive and even thrive since 1969 on donations and fundraising efforts, it has succeeded in somewhat gaining the trust of thepublic as well as elite foundations such as the ones mentioned earlier.
On the whole,given several aspects of the preceding analysis, this organization does notsucceed in inspiring confidence as a legitimate source of information, andespecially not for a student paper, unless it is on the lines of this one. " Even the phrase "media bias," did not feature the siteon the first two pages of search engine listings. " Similarly, one wonders why there is no mention of theorganization's source of funding. Indeed, the organizationhas, at times, had to publicly apologize for its own errors: "Accuracy inMedia retracts all its assertions challenging the authenticity. The onlyincongruous element is the links to shopping sites such as Corner Store,USA. Perhaps, one reason forthis is that the site does not attempt to present opposing points of view,which is a contradiction in terms to its avowed mission. Implicit in this stated position isAccuracy in Media's somewhat doubtful assumption that it is in a positionto correct such misreporting or skewed reporting. Intelligence Community, Mitchell keepsserving up distorted, biased reporting. If, indeed, this is the reason for the omission, it is quiteunderstandable given the objectives of the organization. This is evident in several of the columns currently on theorganization's Web site. An important point to note here, however,is that the site does not seem to feature prominently on search enginerankings since the only keywords that led directly to the site were"accuracy in media.
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Acceptance Essays
