Using the Internet as a Source of Information

Learning About the Candidates

Step One: Clarify your own ideas

• Is there an issue that's important to you?
• What are the important things a government or political official does?
• What kind of a person should the candidate be?

Step Two: Who's running for office?

• See your county Board of Elections. They will list all candidates who will appear on the ballot.
• Wood County's Board of Elections website is: http://www.co.wood.oh.us/boe

Step Three: Gather information

• Printed material from the campaigns and parties
• Newspaper, radio, television
• Social media: Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Internet

Using the Internet

A Warning about the Internet: be very careful to enter the exact URL address of an organization. Many web sites use addresses very similar to those of other organizations.

Questions to Ask

• Authority

- Who is the author of the site?

- What are the author's credentials?

- How knowledgeable is the author?

- Who is the sponsor of the site?

- What is the purpose or intent of the organization?

• Content

- What is the scope of this resource?

- Is the material free of errors? (typos and grammar mistakes should make you skeptical about the quality of the information, too)

- Where did the information come from?

- Does the material try to persuade you?

- Is the page promotional? (an ad or from the candidate)

- Could advertising on the page influence the content?

- Who is the intended audience?

-Is the information available in print or elsewhere?

• Currency

- When was the site last updated?

- Are the links current and accurate?

- Does the site rely on the most current available information? If not, why not?

• Format and Presentation

- Is the information easy to get to?

- Do the images improve or distract from the content?

- Does the site have its own search engine?

• Cost and Accessibility

- Is the site always available?

- Is this a free site, or is there a cost?

- Do you have to register to use the site?

- Does the site rely on advertising to pay for itself?

Statistics and Polls

• Go to the source
• What were the questions?
• Who was asked?
• When was the data gathered?
• Are older figures available for comparison?
• Are figures interpreted correctly?