Factors That Influence Credibility

Essay by ladyheart143College, UndergraduateA, December 2007

download word file, 3 pages 0.0

Downloaded 29 times

Factors That Influence CredibilityIt is true that news papers, television news reporting, magazines, television programs, movies, advertising and the internet. are good sources for information. Nevertheless, not all information is reliable for various reasons. There are a number of factors that can influence the credibility of the information attained from any of the above mentioned sources.

News papers and television news reporting are excellent sources for information with reference to current events. However, readers and viewers should still be cautious of the credibility of information being reported. Keep in mind that these sources are still in the business of profit and they do not want to lose their audience so they may abridge a great deal of information. Many reports vary in the depth and span of coverage of a subject which can cause the facts to be presented from a bias or slanted viewpoint. Many reporters also rely on interviews for a majority of information used in their reports, which could be unintentionally tainted with the sources prejudice.

Any prejudice or bias can influence the credibility of a report. On the other hand, magazines, television programs, movies and advertising are purposely bias based with intent for profit.

Despite the fact that magazines, television programs, movies and advertising do have useful information in reference to contemporary events, they are mainly for entertainment and profit. Organizations for profit contain innumerable unsupported claims which greatly influence their credibility. Generally, anything entertaining would be based more toward a person's feelings than necessity and could be used to generate profit for the source of such entertainment. This is why magazines use beautiful ladies or handsome men to attract the attention of their readers. Magazines may use a thin model's photo to embellish the results of a new diet pill which may...