Blog Credibility

With the Internet becoming evermore influential in our decision making, the concern whether information obtained comes from a credible source has come to the forefront. Ensuring the validity of data has become increasingly challenging as the Internet provides everyone the ability to voice their own opinions as factual. This is especially true of politically motivated blogs. The Journal of Computer MediatedCommunication concluded in a 2007 study that American’s who are “politically interested” view blogs as more credible than the mainstream media. Although I am surprised by these findings, I can understand why so many people are persuaded to perceive political blogs as trustworthy. To elaborate on the tactics blogs use to appear reliable, I will use the Glenn Beck blog as an example.

Upon entering Glenn’s blog, I immediately noticed his attempts at appearing bipartisan and reliable. For instance, his homepage is overflowing with pictures of Glenn wearing a suite and reading glasses, attire that lends audiences to deem that he is knowledgeable and responsible.

The design of the blog also reaffirms professionalism as posts are neat and orderly and appear as they would on a news blog. The top of his blog even reads “Glenn Beck The Fusion of Entertainment and Enlightenment” while the sides reveal other news stories he has commented on in the past. These factors combined with his connection to Fox news make it seem as though Glenn would be a bipartisan journalist. Upon a detailed analysis; however, his political biases become apparent.

The very first post Glenn Beck has on his blog is the “Obama’s Life History Multiple Choice Challenge”. At first one assumes that the answers to questions are based on facts and not political propaganda but that quickly changes as the game is played. The questions are asked in ways that assume Barrack Obama (President of the United States) is anti American. When the answers are revealed, they show that the president and his parents are anti-American; an assumption routed in fiction but presented as factual. To appear credible, the post also includes links of another right wing blog that verifies Obama’s ‘resentment of America’ restating the Glenn Beck post (with links back to Glenn’s blog for their vindication). Although these links may initially seem legitimate, quoting only sources that agree with your position is neither a fair nor impartial way to present a political issue.

A further indication of the blog’s right-wing bias would be the suggestion that gay marriage is not important in the election. On a post titled “Which States Does Obama’s Gay MarriageAnnouncement Affect In The Election”, Glenn points to how the ‘liberal media’ is trying to make gay marriage into an election issue so Obama can increase fundraising even though Americans could care less. He assumes that the media is trying to aid Obama in the election and that this blog is the only source for fair and bipartisan reporting. He backs his judgements with one-sided statistics of how Americans don’t care about gay marriage in an attempt to bestow enthusiasm upon his right-wing base.

To right-wing Americans, information on the Glenn Beck blog seems impartial as it looks professional, has links to other sources, and uses statistics instead of opinions. What is not clearly evident is the right-wing assumptions that are made prior to posting information and the agenda behind the message. Although most Americans may believe blogs to be credible, there is often a hidden message that can render the information unreliable.