What constitutes a credible source?

Doing research, looking for answers and guides on everything from home maintenance through to weight loss have because easy to find using an internet search engine. However, this abundance of information does not necessarily make writing a news story any easier. Search results can give a journalist unique tips and leads, but often the information available is based on opinion and not fact.

Because of the lack of credibility of much of the information online, it's important that all sources be checked thoroughly before they are used in a story. This rule applies to both offline and online sources and shouldn't be changed based merely on the format and medium used for the story.

According to the Online Journalism Blog, there are three main parts to identifying a credible online source. Content, which includes how realistic the story sounds, as well as how up to date the information is: context, where the information was used and how well you know and trust the source: and coding, using checks such as domain extensions (.edu and .gov) as well as website age and registration information using databases such as the whois search.

A good rule to stick to when verifying online sources for use in an article, is to find three authority sites who refer to the source in question. Official government and education sites, as well as sites run by well known real world companies, are a good place to start.

Although many journalists fall into the trap of using a partial source or press release, finding a credible and impartial source that has proven to be credible can often add extra information or view points to a story that other news websites may lack.

Key factors affecting the preparation and delivery of online news.

The story was written by the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin during the flooding in North Queensland before the inland Tsunami and cyclone that were to batter the state later in the month. One of the key facts included in the story read:

30,000 pigs swept away in flood.

According to ABC Media Watch, a correction was printed the next day, explaining that the wording was meant to be 30 sows and pigs. But the damage was done - although in this case there was nothing in the story that could have created a legal issue for the paper, many laughs were enjoyed upon reading the article and correction.

It's not every day that an exclusive story becomes available to the average online news outlet; most stories break fast, with information pouring in and forcing the journalist to sift and then try and present a piece that's unique from all the competition.

With an exclusive story, unless there is extremely time sensitive information, it's often possible to double check key facts and sources. With a story that's already been picked up by every other media outlets, it's often easy for a writer to get sloppy and fail to fully research a story in favour of getting it out before anyone else.
The whole news team must work as a group to ensure accuracy in a story, with the writers and editors all having to do their part to check for errors. 

What defines news in the online environment?

The introduction of the internet has increased the amount of information available to ordinary people, but not all of this information is necessarily accurate and neither is all the information real news. While traditional journalism was aimed at a small audience based on geographical location or interest, online journalism can reach an almost unlimited audience. This makes the task of the online journalist more difficult because they need to write their stories in ways that maintain the interest of a widely varied audience, while still keeping true to quality journalism based on facts, interviews, resources and maintaining reliability.

Another important aspect of news in the online environment is the fact that although many sites claim that they are news sites, very few in fact are. People with no qualifications and no research other than rumour can easily create their own websites or even post to official looking sites which allow almost anyone to post information and often spread misinformation. No matter how hard search engines, governments and commissions try to combat spam and disinformation on the internet, there will always fake news sites that appear to give the appearance of real news.

It's not all bad however- online news reporting allows the journalist the ability to bring together many different styles of journalism, including video, audio and interactive to involve the audience as never before.

News in the online environment is similar to real world news when defined by impact, how current it is, conflicts,  prominence, timeliness and human interest. Online news differs in the areas of proximity and the unusual. As mentioned above, proximity is almost redundant on the internet because of how easily the news can be accessed. The unusual is now often not unusual, but what is defined on the internet as viral - when something seemingly unknown and uninteresting gains a massive audience through online social media.  Unusual events may often go viral but they are only a small part of viral events - viral events are often far from unusual.

Although news in the online world bears similarities to real world news - the playing field is more even now. This means that to stay at the top, Journalists have to stick to their ethics and learn to adapt and produce at a faster rate than before - and prove that they are in fact the best choice to report the news in a changing world.