Web Critique 15

Website Name:  http://amnesty.org
Operated By:  Amnesty International
Funded By: Donations

The website of Amnesty International is a very good resource to people who would like to have their eyes open to human rights violations around the world. I believe the best feature of the website is the ability to look, by country, at current human rights violations. There is also a downloadable PDF file titled “The State of the World’s Human Rights”. Amnesty publishes such a report each year outlining the state of human rights by region and by country. They offer the report in a good number of different languages. There are many fantastic education resources on the site, many of which are in other languages than English, such as “Human Rights Bingo”, education blogs, the link to Amnesty’s site www.respectmyrights.org which has two great interactive tools, the Poverty Trap, and the Housing Journey regarding how lack of housing affects human rights, and more. Overall, Amnesty International is doing good work. I don’t personally agree with all of their stances, but they are a loud voice for many many good causes and their website is a big part of their movement. 

Web Critique 14

Website Name:  Office of Family Assistance
Operated By:  Administration for Children and Families
Funded By: Administration for Children and Families

The OFA administers several key federal grant programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Tribal programs, Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood, and Health Profession Opportunity Grants. Their website has a professional, streamlined look to it and has a simple, easily navigable layout to summarize the assistance offered to families from the government. I liked that among the information on the site (which is generally about federal aid to families-often in the form of block grants to states/tribes), they also had links to state and tribal organizations which are the main way that federal aid is doled out to needy families. That is obviously a very helpful service of the website-directing people to where they can actually get the help they need. There is also access to different reports listed by fiscal year among other data. Their programs tab has an extensive listing of their programs and also the associated policy and laws. At the top of the page there are also links to the Administration for Children and Families, the umbrella administration over the OFA, and also to the Department of Health and Human Services, which is over both. Overall this site is pretty good! I can’t really come up with too much to criticize.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Web Critique 13

Website Name:  www.cbo.gov
Operated By:  The Congressional Budget Office
Funded By: Congress via the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974

According to the website, “CBO provides formal, written estimates of the cost of virtually every bill approved by Congressional committees to show how the bill would affect spending or revenues over the next 5 or 10 years, depending on the type of spending involved.”, as well as other information, such as evaluations of the President’s budget, tabulations of Congressional actions, etc. They are required by law to disclose the methodology for their calculations. The website presents its information in a very professional and clean layout. They have a convenient document on the website titled An Introduction to the Congressional Budget Office providing basic information about the institution. Their Topics tab makes it easy to search for budget information on any topic. Once you find a topic you are looking for, there are many different related reports sorted by “Featured”, “Latest”, and “Policy Options”. The reports succinctly convey the information along with appropriate graphs or charts. The website is easily navigable, with access to the tabs on all website pages. The Cost Estimates tab takes you directly to Cost Estimates on specific House or Senate bills, and also a search engine for finding ones you may be looking for.  And between the FAQ tab and the Blog, any other possible budget information you could ever want is easily found!

 

Web Critique 12

Website Name:  Black Voices
Operated By:  The Huffington Post
Funded By: The Huffington Post- most likely advertising money

This website is a part of the larger Huffington Post website. They provide a plethora of different articles on things related to black people. I was impressed that they even include many articles on issues in other countries relating to the subject as well. With the typical amount of liberal bias that Huff Post exhibits, however, I wish they would assume a more balanced reporting style. Also I really don’t like the layout of any of the sub-sites on Huff Post. They put different posts into the page as smaller thumbnail pictures with a blurb and title, which in itself is enough to make my eyes strained after a while of scrolling through. In addition, they place thumbnail links to unrelated articles and advertisements on the page too, making it hard to focus in on what you’re actually looking for. They obviously are employing click-bait to get more reads on other articles and advertising traffic, but it makes their website more difficult to read. It also makes the page look disorganized and messy. 

Web Critique 11

Website Name:  Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, Inc. (FAIR), www.fair.org
Operated By:  Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, Inc.
Funded By: Donations. They are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

This website has an interesting goal- to provide an aggressive independent check for the large corporate media in our country.  They detect skewing of information, media censorship, and unfairness/bias in reporting. I agree with the makers of this site that such an organization is important to ensure that the media is reporting correctly. I currently feel that they are not, but that is another issue entirely. You can choose options from a list and go quickly to a collection of articles on the topic or geographical region you choose. There is a blog and a collection of studies FAIR has done. I think it is good that they not only analyze current media coverage, but also conduct actual studies in different areas and then provide these on their website. The website has access to their print publication, Extra!, and radio show and several prominent links to donate. I’d say that their writers are about as liberal most times as the regular media, but at least try to be balanced. I think the site could choose a more modern and slick looking cover for their publication. I feel that it looks a bit childish, with its use of cartoons on its front. Overall, there is not much negative to say. 

Web Critique 10

Website Name:  Supreme Court of the United States                                  
Operated By:  United States Government                
Funded By: Congress allocation

This website is the online home of the Supreme Court of the United States. It is a well-organized, aesthetically pleasing, and easily navigable webpage.  Most importantly, it provides information in a way that is understandable to regular citizens. They even include several sections to make the website as helpful as possible to interested citizens. These locations on the website are titled “Visitor’s Guide to Oral Argument”,  “Where to Find Briefs”, an interesting five-fold section titled “About the Court”, “Visiting the Court”, “Touring the Building”, “Exhibitions”, and a helpful FAQ. Really I can’t offer any constructive criticism for the site. They organize their information in such a logical orderly manner, that it is really a great website!

 

Web Critique 9

Website Name:  www.usa.gov
Operated By:   Federal Citizen Information Center, a division of U.S. General Services Administration’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies
Funded By: Annual appropriation from U.S. Congress

USA.gov is a website dedicated to making it easy for citizens at any time to access any type of information they could ever want (and much that they don’t even know exists!).
This website is truly an impressive accumulation of information from the U.S. government. An incredibly complete collection of information, it really astounded me when I explored the website. It is honestly difficult to describe the website simply because it includes so much information. However the website is describable in a few categories: Services and Information, Government Agencies and Elected Officials, Free Publications, Blog, and easy contact-email, phone, facebook, twitter, etc. One more thing to note is that the website directly links easily to whichever government website includes the information you’re searching for. Lastly, in light of our study this week about bureaucracy, this website underscores how truly humongous our government really is. On that note, when you look at the A-Z Index of Government Agencies, it really makes this apparent. In conclusion, this is a new bookmark on my internet browser and it should be on yours too, because it is really a great resource for any American!

 

Web Critique 8

Website Name: Vote Smart www.votesmart.org
Operated By:  Center for National Independence in Politics
Funded By:  Contributions/Donations

            Project Vote Smart is a pretty large-scale organization which exists to inform voters of the views of politicians so that they don’t have to rely on emotional and manipulative campaigning tactics that fail to provide important information to voters.  This organization’s website is very user-friendly. On the home page, there is a prominent video player providing an introduction to the organization, a summary of its services, and a tutorial for the website.  The website has two different interactive tools for voters. One called VoteEasy helps you decide who to vote for in an upcoming election, and the other called Political Galaxy gives a visually appealing avenue for finding information on government leaders searchable by ZIP Code or by name.  I wish that more local politicians were included on the Political Galaxy and VoteEasy. Also, it was a bit annoying that there was no way to easily navigate back to the main site from Political Galaxy. Even hitting the back button did not take me back to the main site. One unique thing about this organization is that they have a phone number you can call at which a researcher will be available to instantly look up information for you. Visitors to the website can also register for myVoteSmart which lets you track changes or additional information on politicians of your choice. It would be helpful if there was actually some information on local officials. It seems that most effort is focused on federal leaders, understandably, however.  There is also a great amount of information for voters available through several links at the bottom of the home page. Something worth noting on a more critical side, is that there are many pop up requests for help (monetary, volunteer, etc.) while on the website. Since almost 95% of their revenue is generated from donations, it is necessary that they request monetary donations and volunteer help. Some site visitors may find this annoying, though. It didn’t really bother me or impede my viewing of the site. 

Web Critique 7

Website Name: www.cfinst.org
Operated By:  The Campaign Finance Institute
Funded By:  Foundation grants, individual contributions

            The Campaign Finance Institute website is devoted to presenting online the research and education materials produced by the Institute. They describe themselves as “The Nation’s Leading Think Tank on Money in Politics in Federal and State Elections” and state that they are “Nonpartisan, Policy-Relevant and Timely” and are “Meeting Peer-Reviewed Standards” and “Serving Public Needs”. They have a plethora of useful information about campaign finance for Federal and State elections, including Presidential and Congressional elections.  Some types of research included are: analyses of money in elections both recent and historical, the cost of winning different types of elections (by year), information on small donors, including citizens, information on donor diversity, how campaign finance has changed over the years, particularly since the Citizens United case, implementation of 527 groups, and BCRA, the impacts of different theoretical changes in donations, and much more. They include a press section, easy email sign up, and tables and charts to help users view data over periods of time. I particularly appreciated the Law section, because they make it really simple and at-a-glance. I also appreciated the sections offering information and tools dedicated to citizens. Finally, a website that has high-level political material, but is also willing to offer education to regular citizens. 

Web Critique 6

Website Name: Federal Election Commission www.fec.gov (Links to an external site.)
Operated By:  The Federal Election Commission
Funded By:  U.S. Government, allocated by Congress

The website of the Federal Election Commission is a great resource to anyone involved in elections: candidates, treasurers, organizations, attorneys, parties, donors, and more. Even the average citizen can gain some helpful information from the FEC website. For instance, the Quick Answers page offered me helpful information about election finance that I wasn’t aware of, and the library page (located at the bottom of the site) offered easy access to older publications. They have pretty full disclosure of financial matters all right there on their website. I felt that the FEC does help those closest involved with election finances by having all of this information available and easily accessible online. Especially for treasurers, they have a specific tips section to help them fulfill their legal obligations. I feel that one good addition may be to have a learning section for curious citizens. It was all very confusing for me, as I have little experience with organizational or election finances. If they truly want to offer full disclosure, it may be helpful to have a small part of their site devoted to helping people understand the basics of what they are presenting on their website.  They do have in their Press section, a tutorial for reporters to use the website, however something geared toward informing citizens would be great as well. 

Web Critique 5

Website Name: Rock the Vote, www.rockthevote.com (Links to an external site.)
Operated By:  Rock the Vote, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization
Funded By:  Donations and fundraising

Rock the Vote is an organization whose goal is to equip the youth of America to vote. The website gets right to this the moment you arrive by popping up a dialog box allowing visitors to immediately and easily to register to vote over the Internet. The website is full of helpful information for people who may be confused and overwhelmed by the process of voting. Along with this information, there are pages on the site for youth to contact their local representatives and also a page with polling and research data. The website has a page where visitors can request the Rock the Vote Democracy Class can come to their school. The organization is non-partisan and I noticed looking at their Twitter feed a mix of both political parties being represented. The website makes good use of celebrity supporters to garner rapport with young visitors to the website. There are pictures of celebrities all over the site, lists of celebrity supporters, and ongoing use of celebrity support in social media streams.  The site has easy linkage to Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media, and a Tumblr blog. There is also a store selling items to help young people “represent” Rock the Vote to their peers. There are many ways offered to get involved from Washington D.C. internships, hosting an event, volunteering, or even just helping “Spread the Word”, as is the name of a particular page on the site with several options of how to spread the word. The very best thing about this site is how it demystifies voting for young Americans and places knowledge about voting at their fingertips in an easy navigable, attractive website.

Web Critique 4

Website Name: CSPAN  http://www.c-span.org/ (Links to an external site.)
Operated By:   National Cable Satellite Corporation
Funded By:  “C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network) is a private non-profit company, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a public service. C-SPAN receives no government funding; operations are funded by fees paid by cable and satellite affiliates who carry C-SPAN programming.”

CSPAN, or Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, was not an oft visited channel in our home growing up. I have memories of flipping through the channels looking for Disney channel and coming across some government proceeding on CSPAN. I inwardly groaned, repulsed by how boring the channel seemed to me, a child, then I flipped quickly on to the next channel. Now that I am an adult, and I have been to the CSPAN website and observed a few video clips and have read the history of CSPAN, I feel a bit more welcoming of the organization which as a child I would never have enjoyed. This week in investigating the website, I watched a video of a Gallup representative discussing the current 40% mass media trust rate, and I watched/listened to a 30 minute video of the director of the U.S. Botanic Garden discussing the history of the Garden. Truthfully, CSPAN has actually developed since my childhood, as has my understanding and interest in the government and our country.  In 2001, CSPAN launched its third associated channel “CSPAN 3” in addition to the others, “CSPAN” and “CSPAN 2”. CSPAN also has a radio station available on Sirius XM. The website is very expansive, with a large video library free to watch, many podcasts, a blog, and among other various types of information, there is an interesting website about the First Ladies of the United States. There is also a Series A-Z page that helps you find helpfully grouped information. One of the major collections of information is regarding Congress. They have gone to great lengths to provide a lot of info on our lawmakers. One more major item on the site worth noting is “CSPAN Classroom” which has a lot of helpful resources for teachers. The website has a corresponding free Android/Apple app that lets you listen live to all three of the stations and CSPAN radio. This is nice, but it is regrettable that the app only allows the audio and that the main website only allows for streaming of the channels if you log in with a cable provider. I think that they put off a lot of viewers by requiring cable service. Many citizens don’t have cable service anymore, but rather opt for online news and subscription movie and tv service, like XBOX video, hulu, or Netflix. We are one of those families. In any case, CSPAN is still a great resource for Americans because they provide unedited raw video of many US court, Congressional, and public affairs proceedings without bias or interruption, and also provide American history programming and non-fiction book and author events from around the country, much of this free on their website. 

Web Critique 3

Website Name: Political Compass, www.politicalcompass.org
Operated By:  Pace News, Ltd.
Funded By:  Sponsorships, seminars

The makers of this website have done a great job creating a test to help you see where you fall on a chart similar to the one in chapter 5 of our book on p. 135-136. Although not exactly the same, both our book and the Political Compass show a way to classify people in a two-dimension manner rather than unilaterally from Left to Right. Many people don’t fit the overly simplistic classifications of Left/Liberal or Right/Conservative. The Political Compass test classifies test-takers based on two continuums: Left to Right and Libertarian to Authoritarian. This site has a lot of information regarding these continuums for those coming to the website who may have a limited understanding of the topic. 

The website shows you where you lie on the scale immediately after you take the test. There is also an option to create a group-chart where you and family or friends can plot your points together. There are plots of famous leaders on the site as well, so you can see how you compare. 

There is a separate smaller quiz called “Iconochasms” where you can “see how well you know your political icons”. I discovered that “iconochasm” is not a word. I think they might actually have meant to say “iconoclasm”. The word “iconoclasm” seems to have the meaning they were trying to construe. That would be one thing I could “constructively criticize” about the site. 

Another few items to critique: the site looks and feels low-budget. The site is low-budget most likely, however there are many free resources to utilize on the internet to make the site look more modern and appealing. Overall, its appearance is not too bad, though. It is fully functional and easily navigable. Their reading list includes writers from the four separate quadrants, but I would have liked to see a list of readings from writers that fall right in the middle of all four. 

Overall, this website and test are a great way to assess yourself and have a starting point for political discussion with others.

Web Critique 2

Website Name: The Charters of Freedom
Operated By:  The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Funded By:  The President’s Budget with authorization each year by Congress₁

This website is a virtual museum exhibit. Many Americans are unable to visit the National Archives Museum, so naturally a website resource is a good thing for NARA to provide. The website has a museum-like feel, with the title and tabs at the top of the website appearing to be carved in stone. The rest of the navigation occurs within a smaller box within the larger webpage. A visitor may navigate through 5 particular topics: the making of the charters, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the impact of the Charters. Thorough, yet succinct, the website offers many interesting subtopic pages along with corresponding pictures and documents. One of my early complaints with the website was that the images of documents such as the Declaration and Constitution were not clear enough to be read. However, I found after a bit more time on the site that these documents were available for download as a high-resolution file making them a bit more readable. I enjoyed the works of art that were included as well as poignant quotes from founding fathers and others. Another helpful feature of the website is its linking to the NARA website which has even more resources and historical information, and also information about visiting their museum. Overall, I was hard-pressed to find anything which may make for a strong critique. I really recommend the website as it is a wonderful resource about our founding and treasured national documents.

₁ http://www.archives.gov/about/plans-reports/performance-budget/

Web Critique 1

Website Name: Politics1.com 
Operated By: Ron Gunzburger-“attorney, journalist, businessman, civil servant, and owner of the sole-proprietorship that is Politics1.”
Funded By: Paid advertisements on said website; funding likely handled by Ron Gunzburger

I definitely plan to use this website in the future, for it is truly a great resource! On the website, one can find listings of current candidates for elections and outstanding lists of resource websites organized by Issue topics, among other additional types of information. I am impressed by the website operator’s willingness to include a balance of resources from both sides of the major arguments. Even the descriptions of all the offshoot parties are respectful and factual. One critique I would give for this site is that it is not very aesthetically pleasing. Its navigation menu, and whole website, really, is incredibly simplistic. It was also not very easy to navigate, because in the Directory I could not find any option to direct me to the ideological debates I was trying to find. For some reason after using the search bar, on the search results page I was presented with a slightly different Directory with more options, one being “Issues” which, of course took me right where I wanted to go. But that was only after searching all the home page options to no avail. The site has got great information but to truly optimize its potential, it needs a face-lift and a revamp of the site map.