Evaluation of Credibility (Post 2)
By Kaitlyn Ton-nu
What is “Cancel Culture”?
What is credibility? Credibility is how trustworthy and reliable is a source, in this case an article. The article I chose to use is an article by Insider called How ‘cancel culture’ quickly became one of the buzziest and most controversial ideas on the internet written by Rachel E. Greenspan, published on August 6, 2020 at 5:30 AM. In this article Greenspan talks about how the term “Cancel Culture” has become a big thing in today’s media being used by many people including Donald Trump and where the term began. It mentions the different spectrums of people affected by “Cancel Culture” From famous hollywood celebrities to a common person targeted through Twitter. In the article How ‘cancel culture’ quickly became one of the buzziest and most controversial ideas on the internet by Rachel E. Greenspan. She talks about how “cancel culture” came to be and what it was meant for in the beginning. Which was to stop supporting celebrities who have done something seemingly wrong and offensive in the majority’s eyes. She also mentions how there is a side of the spectrum of who is affected, which are the famous celebrities who have done something immoral or problematic in the celebrities mentioned in this case they were “cancelled” by the public after they were accused of committing sexual crimes before they were on trial.
Credible or Not?
I believe the article How ‘cancel culture’ quickly became one of the buzziest and most controversial ideas on the internet by Rachel E. Greenspan is a credible and reliable source. As she uses statistics and the writer is clearly stated and no information is hidden about her. Information on Greenspan is easily found from current and past company biographies and through her own LinkedIn. First off in the article the writer’s name is clearly stated at the top of the article. The publishing date is clearly stated as well. When searching up the writer of the article their information -contact information, position, and etc.- is stated and not hidden. Each topic on the article is organized under its own heading. There are many other reasons I consider this a credible source.
Why?
To begin with as said in the article the writer -Rachel E. Greenspan- of said article is clearly stated in the top left corner right under the title of the article. Next to their name states the publishing date -Aug 6, 2020, 5:30 AM as well. After reading through the article I noticed that each topic is organized in it’s respective heading. By googling the writer’s name I was directed to an INSIDER page. This page tells us who the writer is with a picture, what she does in the company, their contactable email, and their social media.
One heading in the article is called “The phrase was popularized only in the past few years. Now it’s everywhere.” Under this heading it explains where it started and how it has become popularized through recent years. It also mentions how “cancel culture” has changed from when it started. Something said under this heading is “Merriam-Webster, the American publisher of dictionaries and thesauruses, connected cancel culture with the #MeToo movement, which coincided with the rise of the term’s popularity online. New allegations seemed to come out daily, and attitudes quickly shifted against the accused.” This is talking about how “cancel culture” was previously connected to huge movements like the #MeToo movement, but has gone from that to being used daily. This relates to the heading as it explains where “cancel culture” started and where it is now.
Is it current information?
The data used in the article is also up to date with some taking place in the year 2020. The article uses a chart pulled from Google’s statistics that shows how much the term “cancel culture” was searched about. This chart ranges from the years 2015–2020. This chart displays the search results for “cancel culture” spiked moderately and occasionally from 2018–2019. However, in 2020 the results spiked up dramatically. From doing my own search in Google’s statistics I found the same chart by using the same time frame given and what was researched. The time frame being July 4, 2015- August 4, 2020 and the topic of research was “cancel culture.” From my research no other evidence was withheld. The only thing else that came up was the breakdown of which country is making these searches and a breakdown on what topics connect with the search.
Who is Rachel E. Greenspan?
The page Rachel E. Greenspan says, “Rachel E. Greenspan is a reporter covering digital culture, including extremism and conspiracy theories online, influencers, social media, misinformation, and more.
Previously, she was a reporter for TIME.” This is explaining what Greenspan does and focuses on in her career. Not only that it also tells where she previously worked. Using her LinkedIn I was able to find that Greenspan also has an abundance of past work experience and many connections. Her career as an editor began in August 2015 when she first started working as an Assistant copy desk chief for Pipe Dream, she stopped working here in May 2016 and by June of 2016 she started working as an Atlas Editor at EXPLO until August 2016. In May 2017 she became an office assistant at EXPLO and by June 2017 she moved on to be a Special projects coordinator until August of 2017. In January 2017 she went back to Pipe Dream as an Assistant arts and culture editor this was until May 2018. At the same time starting in August 2017 she was a Communications and marketing intern at the Fleishman Career center until May 2018. She then began working at Time as a digital producer, news desk and by March 2019 she moved onto be a reporter under Time until March 2020. This is when she began working at her present position as a Digital culture reporter at Insider. Greenspan went to Binghamton University where I found she has been endorsed by 4 of her colleagues as a creative writer and 5 of her colleagues as a copy editor. Her LinkedIn profile shows she has 500+ connections.
Works Cited
Greenspan, Rachel E. “How ‘Cancel Culture’ Quickly Became One of the Buzziest and Most Controversial Ideas on the Internet.” Insider, Insider, 5 Aug. 2020, www.insider.com/cancel-culture-meaning-history-origin-phrase-used-negatively-2020-7.
Greenspan, Rachel E. “Rachel E. Greenspan.” Insider, Insider, www.insider.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan.