Why would you want to know who publishes a web site?

The organization that sponsors a site can sometimes provide clues for further investigation. Educational, non-profit and commercial sites tend to sponsor different kinds of information. However, the sponsoring organization is no guarantee of quality. Does the fact that I trust Education Week mean I have to believe what Jamie Vollmer says in his speech?

A web site publisher’s credentials are one of the few things we can check to enable us to trust the authenticity of the information found on a site. However, we mustn’t confuse the publisher with the author. Education Week had nothing to do with Mr. Vollmer’s speech; they simply made its contents public via the web site they maintain. Does this imply any responsibility?

Publishers establish a reputation for printing specific types of articles, papers, images, sounds, etc. when they build their web site. As they add and change the content, this perspective may stay the same or change, but it usually remains close to the original. Education Week will always print articles about educationally relevant topics, whether their categories remain: Home, Education Week, Teacher Magazine, Daily News, Archives, Special Reports, Issues A-Z, and State Info; or not.

Authored by Lora K. Kaisler 2003