Internet Exercises

Before you begin writing your report check out the Instructions

1	How to Evaluate a Website		How to Contact Public Officials
	Comparing Media		Methods of Communicating on the Web
	Comparing Political Parties		Media Bias
4	How Government uses the Internet		Campaigning for Office
	Blogs on the Net	10	Comparing Interest Groups on the Internet

How to Evaluate a Web site

One of the problems of the Internet is the reliability of information. How can a person determine the validity of what appears on a Web site? In other words, who and what can you trust? In order to determine if a source can be trusted you need to view it critically. Cornell University Library a list of five criteria to help you with this task. Select a website and see if you can apply the five criteria. In your paper explain whether or not the website gives you enough information to apply each of the criteria. If not, explain what is missing. Determine if the site you choose can be trusted or not. It is up to you to determine how many questions are important to answer.
Checklist for an Informational web page
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/webcrit.html

Contacting Public Officials Using the Net

.The Internet enables citizens to easily contact public official. RTC offers tips on how to write an effective letter. The criteria are identified as useful for writing a member of Congress. Using the ideas presented in this website write a letter to the President on a topic of interest to you on domestic or foreign policy in which the President has taken a stand. If you are not sure about his position research it on the Net.

Tips on writing to members of Congress

http://rtc.ruralinstitute.umt.edu/advocacy/letters.htm

Comparing Media on the Internet and in Print

Pick a newspaper of your choice. It can be a national newspaper such as USA Today or the New York Times or a local paper such as the Chicago Tribune. Compare a print copy of the paper with the on-line version of the paper. What is the same? How do they differ? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of media.

How Citizens can use the Net to Discuss Government Policy

One of the issues raised by Rheingold was the possibility of virtual community. One way to achieve community is through political chat. This is a place where citizens can discuss the issues of the day with each other online. Examine political chat at http://www.4-lane.com/politicalchat/index.html or other political chat forum online and write a paper on your observations of the quality and quantity of the discussion. Does it appear that real dialogue is taking place? Do you think real learning is possible in this environment? Do only like-minded people participate? How many people are using this technique? Write a critical essay based on your observations.

political chat http://www.4-lane.com/politicalchat/index.html

Comparing Political Parties

Examine the sites of the two major parties. Do the same for one of the 3rd parties listed below. Identify their political philosophies, issue stands, ideas or concerns. How are they different, how are they similar? If you found differences, do you consider the differences to be significant? Explain your answer. Which party do you think has the most appeal to the general public? Explain. Are there any issues you can think of that were not identified by the parties? If so, why do you think they were left out?

Democrats http://www.democrats.org/index.html
Republicans http://www.rnc.org/
3rd party http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/parties.htm (go to America on this list)

Media Bias

A major controversy in American politics centers on the bias found in the mass media. Some argue that there is a liberal bias others claim it is conservative. For example, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) claims that they can show clear proof of pro-corporate, conservative bias in the media. Accuracy In Media (AIM) sees things very differently. Determine what criteria is being used by each of these organizations. Write a paper identifying these criteria (comparing the two organizations) and pick a new story covered by each and show how they determine media bias. Spend a part of the paper assessing what you think is media bias or what approach you think is more accurate.
FAIR http://www.fair.org/
AIM Chttp://www.aim.org/

Government on the Internet

Today almost all governments are on the Internet. How the president and congress use the Internet is the question for this project. Check out the official website for Congress and the President (see links below). Write a critical essay about either the House site, Senate site or the Presidential website. Answer the following questions: What kinds of information is available on the Web site? Is the information presented in a way that is easy to understand? Is it easy to navigate the site? Who is it aimed at? What consumer contacts are available? Does the site help improve public access to the bureaucracy? How do you know that this is an official government site?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

http://www.senate.gov

http://www.house.gov

Campaigning for Office

Read the following Pew article on online advertising in the 2004 presidential election campaign. In your paper describe what the ads were used for, where they were placed and how ads online compare with those in the main stream media.
Another possibility is to compare ads used in election campaigns. The collection has ads from 1952 until 2004. Check out the Living Room Candidate and write a paper comparing the evolution of ads from the 50s to the present time. Explain how ads have changed and give your assessment of how useful they are to voters attempting to make an informed choice.

http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Pres_Online_Ads_Report.pdf

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/

Blogs on the Net

One of the newest topics on the Web is blogging and its emergence as a new media and form of communication on the Web. Choose a political blog and explain it in detail. What is contained on the site. How it is interactive. What audience is it intended for. And, how often it is changed. Describe how blogs are becoming influential as a media form in 2006. Information about political blogs can be found at http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/blogindex.htm

Comparing Interest Groups

Look at three sites of interest groups: PETA, AARP, and AFL-CIO. Write your report answering the following questions. Who is the intended audience for these Web sites? How does an interest group use a Web site to distribute information? Is there a particular orientation or bias to the data presented? Do you favor the efforts of any of these groups? Does the material on the sites you observed increase your support, decrease it, or not change it at all?

PETA http://www.peta.org/

AARP http://www.aarp.org

AFL-CIO http://www.aflcio.org

Instructions for Written Assignments:

An assignment is due once a week on the Sunday of each week. Due dates are: July 19th, 26th, Aug 2nd, Aug 9th, Aug 16th.
Choose an assignment from the list of 10 projects.
Check out the web sites listed at the bottom of the assignment. Theses are the resources you will need to answer the questions. Review them carefully.
Write a report approximately 3 to 5 pages in length, double spaced with 1 inch margins.
Make sure you answer all the questions listed in the assignment.
Write the report in your word processor. Use Word the word processor recognized by the university. Deposit your paper at Blackboard on the Internet Exercise page for the appropriate paper.

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