ProPublica - Assignment 4

In Assignment 1, I said ProPublica is a legitimate news Web site that does original and comprehensive coverage of national issues. I still think so. ProPublica is just as legitimate as The New York Times or The Washingtojn Post. The difference is that, other than being just an online publication, ProPublica is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization. The journalists who work for ProPublica are along the lines of those who work in other respectable news publications.

Also, while ProPublica does cite stories from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press and others, it still does its own investigation, interviews and reporting in other articles. For instance, an article entitled "Energy Department Boldly Goes Where No Man Has Gone Before," it doesn't seem like the writer did much of the reporting herself. She, instead, cited reports/stories done by The Times, The Post and AP. However, in other articles, such as "Car Dealers Protected from New Consumer Protection Agency," the coverage is, I think, very much like what we can see in other legitimate news publications.

ProPublica is also doing a good job of tracking down how the stimulus funds are being spent. The Web site is continually updated when significant amount of stimulus funds have been spent, how they were spent, who received the funds and why the funds were given. The articles about this are also supported by interviews with credible sources from all sides of the issue. Like I said before, ProPublica's articles can be text-heavy because most of its coverage are comprehensive. However, it does utilize other tools such as info graphics that would make readers understand better how, for instance, the stimulus funds are being spent so far. On the main page, for instance, is an info graphic called "Stimulus Progress Bar," which is on the main page of the Web site.

Overall, I think ProPublica is living up to what it says in its "About us" section. It continues to provide full coverage of national issues, and it continues to provide well-written and well-reported investigative pieces.