Week 3: Assignment and Student Response

MondayMay 14 at 1:19pm

Manage Discussion Entry

The first and probably most important government database is USA.org which holds millions of federal and state government information not available anywhere else on the Web. Another database to name is Fedstats.gov which is just as it sounds in providing the user of this Web site with statistics from government agencies (Paul, & Hansen, 2007). The last database that can be used is the Federal Register. All of which provides reporters with statistics and factual information to put a story together. Not only that but it can give you some personal spoken words by Congressional members or other government officials to insert what they have said in the past to modern time (Paul, & Hansen, 2007). These databases provide so much for the people of the country to know about how our government works whether it be your local government of state government. The Web gives us the accessibility to access whatever we may choose.

While there are many advantages and disadvantages to using these databases online. First and foremost, q good example of a benefit is the ability to access Presidential speeches online and all of which for free. Another benefit that is time because as a journalist one must remember that the faster you conduct your research and get your story done the better off you are as a writer. Also, as a journalist you can find just about anything you want (Paul, & Hansen, 2007). The faster you work the more able you are to get your story out before a competitor.

Then with advantages comes disadvantages like interpreting data. It is difficult to interpret data on facts and statistics especially when dealing with government data. Even though, that may be one problem another issue is tracking down source documents to back up what you find (Paul, & Hansen, 2007). This can be difficult because when citing something you might have to track down the exact document from which it comes from. For example, if you are to cite something from the Declaration of Independence you are going to have to find the citation information for that exact document. This can be a very tedious and taxing task for one to complete. However, all in all, the advantages tend to outweigh the disadvantages in how easy it is to access government data and statistics. It may be difficult at times but there is a way around everything to compile an investigation.

References

Paul, N., & Hansen, K. (2007). Computer-Assisted research: Information strategies and tools for journalists. Columbia, MO: Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc.