A Credibility Evaluation of the Article "Slow Progress On Long-Term Unemployment Benefits As 1.6 Million Miss Out"

Sited sources from the article, Slow Progress On Long-Term Unemployment Benefits As 1.6 Million Miss Out.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/24/unemployment-benefits_n_4661010.html#slide=3014761

Sources

• Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.)
• Moderate Senate Republicans
• This article from their own site http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/14/unemployment-insurance-senate_n_4597918.html
• This article from their site http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/house-democrats-unemployment_n_4612641.html
• The Labor Department http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
• Shannon Gaiser of Butler, Pa., an unemployed substance abuse counselor
• A response letter from Rep. Michael Kelly (R-Pa.)

An Evaluation of this article’s credibility

Arthur Delaney is the author of the article along with being coauthor on both of the articles he sited in this piece.

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? 

• Delaney is a Huffington Post contributor that focuses on unemployment and other economic issues according to his profile on the site. He has been with the Huffingotn Post since 2009.
•  He has written for the Washington City Paper, The Hill newspaper, Slate Magazine, and ABCNews.com
•  He has also written an EBook titled A People's History of the Great Recession.

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. 

•  It is only listed that he is affiliated with the news organizations he works for as a reporter.

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.) 

• The author has received awards for his journalism including the Street Sense David A. Pike Excellence in Journalism award and a Sidney Award from the Hillman Foundation

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. 

• Though he does not seem to be promoting a particular bias in this article it should be noted that the Huffington Post tends to be a left leaning organization.

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?

•  Web information is up-to-date.

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 is a link to most of the sources and quotes from the personal interview.

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. 

• In this article there is a mix. The links are to other articles but also to a press release by the Labor Department. He also used quotes from a press conference and quotes from a person experiencing the effects of the subject and a letter in her position from a Congressman’s Office.

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

•  Huffington Post is a national News/Journalists site

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This Article reports on the activities of Congress this week surrounding unemployment and the effects these actions (or lack there of) are having on those who are unemployed. It is important that the article uses both direct quotes from member of Congress in the article and sites reports released by the organization that is responsible for releasing data on just this subject.

In an age where any opinion has a forum on the web, it is important to seek reporting that gives information that is rooted in fact and reliable sources. Delaney himself presents a level of credibility because his reporting on this particular subject has been ongoing. Through all of his reporting he shows that he is committed to telling a complete story.

To increase his ability to appear as impartial he could have, in addition to personal account from an unemployed woman, included the opinion of someone who is against the extending of unemployment.  Overall, however I believe the article serves as a fairly complete snapshot of information on the subject at the time. The article somewhat serves as a small piece of a larger whole of information surrounding the unemployment benefits subject.