Stop Misinformation on the Internet: Check Your Sources

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:14:51 +0100

In my career as a freelance writer, I have been asked to write about everything from athlete biographies to highly technical software specifications. It goes without saying that writing these articles requires a decent amount of research. What I’ve learned from this is that there are countless information on the internet that are inaccurate, provides half-truths, or are just plain wrong.

As most internet marketers can attest, .gov pages are priceless. The information found on government sites are considered accurate so experienced writers prefer to use these sites when appropriate. Major news sites such as CNN, MSN, and AP are generally trustworthy. But these sites can be prone to statistical as well as editorial bias. And of course, there are the “expert” websites. These are the sites maintained by doctors, lawyers, architects, accountants, and other professionals.

A lot of writers assume that “expert” websites contain pure gold because renowned professionals won’t risk their reputation by giving false information – will they? The problem is most professionals don’t have exemplary writing skills. Even if they did, they don’t have the time to create their own content. Work is either completed by a staff member or completely outsourced. As a result, the quality of information found on these sites largely depends on the quality of the writer hired to do the job.

Why am I writing about this? Well, it is frustrating to see false information all over the internet. Just yesterday, I uncovered yet another misleading information. Where is all this stuff coming from? It is unfortunate that a lot of writers are not very diligent in digging for reliable information. Being a good writer means using a variety of sources. This means that you should not only check the lawyer’s website, you should also look at news pieces and journals when applicable.

Whether you are paid $2/article or $50/article, remember that you have accepted the work as a writer. You are duty-bound to protect not only your own reputation but the reputation of your client as well. On the part of the client, giving a reasonable pay rate can do wonders. It is difficult to expect a writer, who is trying to complete $2/article as quickly as possible, to crank out exemplary content when he or she is trying to pay the bills.

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Stop Misinformation on the Internet: Check Your Sources